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Abortion Bills Effectively Decriminalize Death by Neglect

(Alliance Defending Freedom) As we await the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, states across the country are pushing legislation to prepare for a potentially post-Roe world. While some states have passed legislation that protects mothers and babies alike, other states have moved in the wrong direction.

Here’s an example from Maryland’s Senate Bill 669, which was introduced but did not pass in the legislative session:

“This section may not be construed to authorize any form of investigation or penalty for a person … experiencing a miscarriage, perinatal death related to a failure to act, or stillbirth.”

One of those is not like the others.

Miscarriage and stillbirth are tragic pregnancy outcomes, and no woman should be made to feel at fault or penalized after experiencing such a painful loss.

But what is “perinatal death related to a failure to act”? And what does “perinatal” even mean?

Those are great questions, and questions that SB 669 failed to answer. Without a definition of “perinatal” in the Maryland bill itself, we are forced to turn to alternate sources.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention define “perinatal death” as “[i]nfant deaths under age 7 days and fetal deaths at 28 completed weeks of gestation or more.”

Under this definition, not only could a baby born alive after an abortion attempt be left to die, but if a baby dies as a result of any neglect up to a week after birth, the person(s) responsible might not be held accountable.