TEXAS SENATE OFFERS INITIAL BACKING OF “BORN ALIVE” ABORTION BILL

  

State senators have given initial approval to a bill filed by Senator Lois Kolkhorst which would require doctors to treat babies born alive after an abortion.

Senate Bill 23 was passed on a 20-10 vote Monday, largely along party lines. A final vote is expected soon on whether to send the bill to the House.

According to Kolkhorst, the bill requires doctors who perform abortions to “render aid” to babies born alive, and “do all they can to save that child”.

Doctors that fail to do so could be charged with a third-degree felony and face a sentence of two to ten years in prison.  In addition, they could be liable to the state for a civil penalty of “not less than $100,000” to be collected by the state attorney general.

Kolkhorst said the bill was intended to strengthen a 1979 state law that does require medical treatment for children born during an abortion, but does not include suitable penalties.

Several Democrats called the bill unnecessary, saying the bill isn’t targeting a real problem or threat. Senator Nathan Johnson of Dallas said state law only allows abortions until 20 weeks of gestation, when a fetus is not considered viable outside the womb.  He asked if this bill was about protecting life, or rather about “persecuting the physician”.

Kolkhorst responded that this is “an attempt to make sure that Texas is not ambiguous”. She said this bill is indeed about protecting life, and it intends to protect a child born alive.  She said “if it’s one life, one life out of a million, it’s worth saving”.