State Rep. Jeff Leach is pleased with the Texas Born Alive Act. | jeffleach.com
The House has passed the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act due to Republican support.
The U.S. House of Representatives passed a pro-life bill on Wednesday, Jan.11. However, it isn't expected to be taken up by the Senate.
According to CNN, the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act passed 220-210, with 220 Republicans voting in favor and 210 Democrats voting against it. The proposed law would mandate that any child who survives an abortion procedure receive the necessary level of medical care as any other baby born at the same gestational age.
Collin County Rep. Jeff Leach (R-Plano) authored a similar bill that was passed in Texas in 2019. According to Texas Tribune, under that bill, doctors who fail to comply and refuse to give abortion-surviving infants the appropriate medical care would be charged with a third-degree felony and receive a fine of at least $100,000.
In a recent post, Leach took to Twitter regarding the bill.
"I was proud to author and pass the Texas Born Alive Act with @loiskolkhorst in 2019. And I’m glad the U.S. House, and many other states, are now following our lead," he said.
If the new bill passes, healthcare providers who fail to comply with the requirements of the bill could serve up to five years in prison or pay fines. The bill, however, would not inflict any punishment on the mother and would shield her from any type of prosecution, according to CNN.
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