Missouri has taken a significant step to protect the most vulnerable among us: infants who are born alive after failed abortion procedures. Governor Mike Kehoe recently signed the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act into law, guaranteeing these newborns the same standard of medical care as any other child. In a political landscape where Missouri’s hands have been largely tied on the broader abortion question, this legislation carves out a critical protection that transcends the abortion debate itself.
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The law arrives at a time when the state is navigating a difficult post-Roe environment, following a 2024 ballot measure that enshrined abortion access in the state constitution. Even so, Missouri lawmakers found common ground on a principle that should be uncontroversial: a baby who is born alive deserves to live.
From Life Site:
The Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act guarantees any “child born alive during or after an abortion or an attempted abortion shall have all the rights, privileges, and immunities available to other persons, citizens, and residents of this state, including any other liveborn child”; and specifically mandates that he or she be given the “same degree of professional skill, care, and diligence to preserve the life, health, and comfort of the child as a reasonably diligent and conscientious health care provider would render to any other child born alive at the same gestational age.”
“A person shall have the right to bring a cause of action under sections 537.080 to 537.090 or chapter 538 for any injury arising from a violation of the provisions of subsection 3 of this section,” the law added. “Anyone who commits an ‘overt act’ to kill a newborn delivered alive is guilty of first-degree murder.”
The bill also charges the state’s Pregnancy Associated Mortality Review Board with investigating “maternity care deserts,” i.e., “counties in which access to maternity care services is limited or absent, either through a lack of services or through barriers to a woman’s ability to access care within a county.”
Missouri’s new law comes in the wake of a November 2024 ballot measure in which state voters approved a constitutional amendment establishing abortion as a “fundamental right,” effectively invalidating the state’s near-total abortion ban. While pro-life advocates work toward reversing that amendment through future ballot measures, including a proposal by state Sen. Mike Moon that would establish personhood at conception, the Born-Alive Act represents what lawmakers could protect right now.
The problem of infanticide following failed abortions is more widespread than many realize. The Abortion Survivors Network estimates that approximately 1,734 infants are born alive after failed abortion procedures every year in the United States. Despite this, federal law remains largely toothless on the matter. While the federal Born-Alive Infants Protection Act of 2002 technically prohibits infanticide nationwide, it carries no civil or criminal penalties, making enforcement virtually impossible. Congressional Democrats have repeatedly blocked passage of a stronger federal version of the bill. As of September 2024, only 18 states have laws requiring medical care for infants born alive after attempted abortions, meaning that in a majority of states, abortionists face no legal consequences for allowing these children to die.
Scripture teaches that human beings are made in the image of God, and that truth does not diminish at any stage of life, including conception. A child who survives an abortion is, without question, a living human being deserving of full protection under the law. Missouri’s law reflects a basic moral conviction that should unite people across political lines: that a born, breathing child must be cared for. Christians are called to speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves (Proverbs 31:8-9), and this legislation is a reminder that even in states where abortion restrictions have been rolled back, there are still meaningful battles to be won for the protection of life.
How are you praying for the protection of newborns and the advancement of pro-life legislation across the country? Share your prayers and Scriptures in the comments below.
(Excerpt from Life Site. Photo Credit: gorodenkoff/Getty Images)
