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Heated hearing on 'born‑alive' bills draws sharply divided testimony; sponsors seek reporting and mandated care for infants born after abortion attempts
Summary
Sponsors urged the House Committee on Health and Mental Health to pass bills requiring life‑saving care and mandatory reporting when infants are born alive following abortion procedures; opponents and several committee members said Missouri and federal law already cover such situations and warned the bills could have unintended effects.
House Committee hearings on House Bill 195 (Seitz) and House Bill 1119 (Jones) brought prolonged, at‑times heated testimony and sharp questions from representatives about whether new state language is necessary, duplicative or could have unintended consequences for maternal care and medical practice.
Sponsors described the bills as narrowly focused protections for infants who survive an abortive attempt, requiring that a child “born alive during or after an abortion” be provided the same rights and “the same degree of professional skill, care, and diligence” that would be rendered to any other child of the same gestational age. Representative Seitz framed the measures as an update to existing law “to grant the same rights and privileges as any other person born alive,” and Representative Holly Jones pointed to similar federal attention in the U.S. House and to reporting gaps when…
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