A dangerous new bill in the Maryland General Assembly, House Bill 1131, The Pregnancy Outcome Protection Act, introduced by Delegate Lesley Lopez (D-Montgomery), would effectively decriminalize infanticide in Maryland, putting an untold number of babies at risk.
Maryland Right to Life strongly opposes House Bill 1131 and urges members of the General Assembly to vote against it.
Under current federal law, any born-alive infant, even after an attempted abortion, is recognized as a legal person and deserves the same protections as any other human being. HB1131 would undermine those protections by shielding third parties from responsibility if a newborn infant or abortion survivor is denied appropriate medical care after birth and left to die. It would make it nearly impossible for state authorities, who could be charged with a misdemeanor offense, to investigate the death of an infant born alive during an attempted abortion. It would gag medical providers from doing their duty as mandatory reporters of suspected abuse or homicide.
“This bill is not about protecting existing rights, but about actively stripping away the state's current ability to protect newborns. This bill would formalize a ‘zone of lawlessness’ where a child’s right to life depends entirely on the mother’s intent, even after the child is outside the womb,” argued Laura Bogley, J.D., Executive Director of Maryland Right to Life, who testified against the bill at the House of Delegates Judiciary Committee hearing on Thursday.
This is not about punishing mothers. In fact, women are already immune from prosecution for miscarriage, stillbirth, or abortion under state and federal law. National Right to Life has gone on the record to state that they do not support the prosecution of mothers, who are often the second victims of abortion. Our first priority is protecting these precious little ones who survive abortions and ensuring that those who harm or neglect them are not permitted to evade justice.
Premature infants, including abortion survivors, deserve the same degree of medical care as any other newborn of the same gestational age. No newborn babies should be left to die or worse, have their lives extinguished by those who owe them care. No one who commits acts of infanticide should be shielded from legal prosecution.
Maryland has long recognized the importance of protecting vulnerable children. The Safe Haven program, which allows mothers to safely surrender newborns without prosecution, was created to prevent abandonment and secure babies in crisis situations. Maryland Right to Life was successful in expanding those protections to the first 60 days following birth, making our Safe Haven law, one of the strongest in the nation. HB1131 moves Maryland in the wrong direction by weakening the legal safeguards for newborn children.
“This bill serves as evidence to why it is necessary for Congress to pass the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act,” added Bogley in her testimony.
Take Action: Send a clear message that: Maryland should NOT hinder infanticide investigations in order to shield abortionists from the law.