LANSING, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – A recent report out of Minnesota about five babies being born alive and left to die after failed abortions in 2021 was the impetus behind Michigan News Source looking into similar incidents in Michigan.
Michigan is one of nine states that are required to report on children who are born alive during an abortion. The other states are Arkansas, Arizona, Florida, Indiana, Minnesota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, and Texas.
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According to a report by the Family Research Council (FRC), Michigan has reported 84 such cases between 1997 and 2018 according to data provided by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) vital records and health statistics. Michigan News Source found no additional cases after 2018.
The FRC has classified these numbers as “the most of any state.” Twelve of the cases took place more recently between 2008 and 2018.
According to the Physician’s Handbook on the Reporting of Abortions from the State of Michigan, they ask the doctors “Did the fetus show evidence of life when separated, expelled or removed from the woman?” Yes or no. Check the appropriate box.
They note that “evidence of life” is constituted by breathing, beating of the heart, pulsation of the umbilical cord or definite movement of voluntary muscles. A fetus showing such evidence of life must be reported as a live born, in which case both an abortion report and a certificate of live birth must be filed.
Under Michigan’s Born Alive Infant Protection Act of 2002, it is the obligation of a physician to provide immediate medical care to the newborn if born alive during an abortion procedure. If an abortion results in a live birth and the mother expresses a desire not to assume custody and responsibility for the child by refusing life sustaining medical treatment, the newborn is considered to have been surrendered to an emergency service provider.
Under this law, a newborn is a legal person for all purposes and the state has a paramount interest in protecting all individuals. The law states that a woman’s right to terminate pregnancy ends when the pregnancy is terminated. It is not an infringement on a woman’s right to terminate her pregnancy for the state to assert its interest in protecting a newborn whose live birth occurs as the result of an abortion.
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The FRC reports that the CDC lists at least 143 infant deaths in the United States from 2003 through 2014 who died after being born alive during an abortion procedure and admits it’s almost certainly an underestimate because there are no federal reporting requirements.
Ninety-seven of those deaths involved maternal complications but there is no information on the remaining 46 about
whether they were elective or not.
Looking at the survivability rate of those infants, 25 survived less than ten minutes, 68 of them lived one to four hours and six of them lived a day or more.
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