Trump Signs 'Born Alive' Executive Order to Protect Infants That Survived Abortion

By Madelaine D. First Posted: Sep 26, 2020 05:39 AM EDT

President Donald Trump has signed an executive order that will protect babies born premature, including those that survive abortions.

On Friday, Trump signed the order directing the Health and Human Services Department to ensure that federally-funded facilities will give life-saving medical care for infants who survived an abortion.

Trump first mentioned the measure during a pre-recorded virtual address to the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast early this week, but details were unclear, as per Fox News.

The President noted that protecting premature babies was a "sacrosanct moral duty."

In the released order, the White House specified that it would enforce the medical care requirements and prioritize funding for programs that research improvements to life-saving care or train medical personnel to provide that type of treatment.

Trump Signs 'Born Alive' Executive Order to Protecting Infants Who Survive Abortion

(Photo : Drew Angerer)
President Trump Campaigns For Re-Election In Virginia NEWPORT NEWS, VA - SEPTEMBER 25: U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally at Newport News/Williamsburg International Airport on September 25, 2020 in Newport News, Virginia. President Trump is scheduled to announce his nomination to the Supreme Court to replace the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Saturday afternoon at the White House.

"Every infant born alive, no matter the circumstances of his or her birth, has the same dignity and the same rights as every other individual and is entitled to the same protections under federal law," the order said.

The measure was celebrated by anti-abortion activists who have linked up with Trump in the lead-up to November.

In 2018, the issue featured prominently in Trump's political message after Virginia Governor Ralph Northam indicated that doctors should refuse life-saving care to infants who survive abortions.

Trump's focus on abortion will likely boost his standing among social conservatives as he prepares to nominate another Supreme Court justice.

Meanwhile, a recent testimony from David Daleiden's civil trial has revealed that Planned Parenthood saw at least one baby born after an abortion, and may have seen more.

The order was intended to protect individuals like Gianna Jessen, who claims to have survived a botched saline abortion. In a video posted this week, Jessen thanked the President for his efforts.

NARAL Pro-choice America responded to the previous announcement by accusing Trump of misinformation and using the term "born alive" that's not grounded in medical science, as per a press release.

NARAL President Ilyse Hogue said it is downright cruel and a slap in the face to the American public that Trump uses executive powers to impose his extreme ideology and deploys dangerous disinformation in a power grab for the Supreme Court.

House Democrats rejected the measure called the "Born Alive Abortion Survivors Act" early this year. The said law would have applied penalties to doctors who refuse to provide life-saving care. The measure has been touted as a way to make sure infants will receive care and protection.

Vice president at Planned Parenthood Action Fund Jacqueline Ayers noted that Trump was trying to solve a "nonexistent" problem. "Health care providers already have an obligation to provide appropriate medical care," Ayers said.

Former president George W. Bush has passed the Born Alive Infant Protection Act in his first term. He said that infants born at any stage deserve the same protection as anyone else.

Trump's order applies that law and Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) that mandates emergency medical care, as benchmarks whether federally-funded programs are in compliance.

The executive order noted that some hospitals refuse the mandatory medical screening examination and stabilizing treatment or do not provide potentially life-saving medical treatment to premature or disabled infants despite these laws and even when parents plead for such treatment.