The “Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act” requires physicians and abortion facilities to provide proper medical treatment for babies born alive after an abortion. The bill mandates fines and the possibility of imprisonment for medical professionals found to be noncompliant.

“Justice and compassion took a great leap forward today,” Marjorie Dannenfelser of the Susan B. Anthony List said of the bill’s passage.

“We thank Leader McCarthy and our allies in the House for holding a timely vote on this crucial bill, as hundreds of thousands of pro-life Americans rally at Congress’ doorstep,” Dannenfelser said in a Jan. 19 press release.

The bill, sponsored by Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., says that abortionists would be required to meet the same standards of care for a child surviving an abortion as would be expected for infants of the same gestational age who were not subjects of an abortion. The law would also specifically require surviving babies to be transported to a hospital.

Women undergoing abortion could not be prosecuted under the law’s provisions, but it would give them a cause for a lawsuit if the child surviving an abortion was uncared for.

A bill already exists that orders medical professionals to provide emergency care for the infants who survive late-term abortions, but the problem, according to Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., is that the current bill has little power to be enforced.

“The problem with existing law, Mr. Speaker, is enforcement — the lack of legal implications,” Smith said Jan. 18 in a speech on the House floor.