Born-Alive Infants Protection Act

Born-Alive Infants Protection Act

Long title	Born-Alive Infants Protection Act of 2002
Acronyms (colloquial)	BAIPA
Enacted by	the 107th United States Congress
Citations
Public law	107-207
Statutes at Large	116 Stat. 926
Codification
Titles amended	1
U.S.C. sections created	1 U.S.C. § 8
Legislative history
Introduced in the House as H.R. 2175 by Steve Chabot (R–OH) on June 14, 2001 Passed the House on March 12, 2002 (186–107) Passed the Senate on July 18, 2002 (unanimous consent) Signed into law by President George W. Bush on August 5, 2002

The Born-Alive Infants Protection Act of 2002 ("BAIPA" Pub.L. 107–207, 116 Stat. 926, enacted August 5, 2002, 1 U.S.C. § 8) is an Act of Congress. It extends legal protection to an infant born alive after a failed attempt at induced abortion. It was signed by President George W. Bush.

Legislative history

• Based on H.R. 2175 - passed March 12, 2002
• Introduced on June 14, 2001^[1]
• Reported by Committee on August 2, 2001^[1]
• Passed House on March 12, 2002^[1]
• Passed Senate by unanimous consent July 18, 2002.^[2]
• Signed into law by President Bush in Pittsburgh at the Pittsburgh Hilton.^[3] on August 5, 2002^[1]
• The original author of the bill was Congressman Charles T. Canady of Florida who had by then retired from Congress.

Committee of the House

The bill was approved by the committee on July 12, 2001. The committee consisted of 32 representatives, 25 of which voted for the bill, 2 against and 10 were not present during the vote. This vote allowed the bill to be passed onto the entire house of representatives.^[4]

Interpretation of the Bill

• Defines a "Born alive infant" as "Person, human being, Child, Individual"
• Acknowledges human rights of any child born within the United States.^[5]
• "Born Alive" is defined as the complete expulsion of an infant at any stage of development that has a heartbeat, pulsation of the umbilical cord, breath, or voluntary muscle movement, no matter if the umbilical cord has been cut or if the expulsion of the infant was natural, induced labor, cesarean section, or induced abortion.
• Decisions may continue to be made by medical professionals as to whether to resuscitate an infant based on medical efficacy, but not in regard to the legal standing of the patient.^[4]

See also

• Born-alive rule
• Baby Doe Law
• Gianna Jessen
• Jill Stanek
• Kermit Gosnell

References

1. http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h107-2175
2. Bill history at the Library of Congress
3. President Signs Born-Alive Infants Protection Act, White House press release, 2002-08-05.
4. http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/BillStatus.asp?DocNum=1082&GAID=3&DocTypeID=SB&LegId=3910&SessionID=3&GA=93
5. https://www.congress.gov/107/crpt/hrpt186/CRPT-107hrpt186.pdf