Ohio Governor signs “Born-Alive” bill into law

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) has signed into law Senate Bill 157, the “Born-Alive Infant Protection Act,” which requires doctors to provide life-saving treatment to babies born alive after an attempted abortion or face criminal charges, the Hill reports.

Senate Bill 157 additionally provides that doctors must complete a pertinent “child survival form” in reporting every case in which a baby is born alive during an abortion. Failure to do so could result in third-degree felony charges, the Hill reports. Ohio already bans abortion after 20 weeks gestation, and the state’s most premature baby was born at 21 weeks, so the scenario provided for by Senate Bill 157 is not expected to be common-place.

Senate Bill 157 also prohibits doctors who teach at medical schools affiliated with state universities or other public institutions from also working with abortion clinics, the Hill said. Critics say this provision in the bill has nothing to do with saving babies born alive after attempted abortion, but is designed to restrict the number of doctors available to carry out abortions at any stage of gestation.

The bill’s purpose is to stigmatize essential health care, criminalize doctors, and eliminate abortion access,” Lauren Blauvelt-Copelin of Planned Parenthood Southwest Ohio said in a statement.

However, the new law has naturally been welcomed by pro-life groups. In a statement, Ohio Right to Life president Mike Gonidakis said his organization applauds Gov. DeWine and the Republican state legislature for putting the bill onto the statute books.

“No baby, regardless of the circumstances surrounding their birth, should be left alone to die,” Gonidakis said.

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