Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act

H.R. 21 would establish specific requirements for healthcare practitioners when a child is born alive following an abortion or attempted abortion. Under the bill, healthcare providers present at such a birth would be required to exercise the same degree of professional care to preserve the child's life and health as they would for any other newborn at the same gestational age, and would have to ensure the child is immediately transported to and admitted to a hospital. Healthcare practitioners and hospital employees who fail to provide this care or fail to report violations would face criminal penalties, including fines and up to five years of imprisonment. Those who intentionally kill or attempt to kill a born-alive infant could be prosecuted for murder.

The bill includes protections for mothers, explicitly barring criminal prosecution of the woman upon whom the abortion was performed. However, mothers would be allowed to bring civil lawsuits against healthcare practitioners or employees who violate the bill's requirements, and courts would award attorney's fees to prevailing plaintiffs. The bill also requires immediate reporting of any violations to state or federal law enforcement agencies.