Sponsor calls Born‑Alive Survivors Protection Act necessary; senators raise First Amendment and medication‑abortion concerns

Senate substitute for Senate Bill 999 was introduced as the Born Alive Survivors Protection Act, with the sponsor saying Missouri law should explicitly require medical care and protections for any child born alive during or after an abortion or attempted abortion.

Reading the bill on the floor, the secretary summarized the substitute: "Senate bill 999 creates the Born Alive Survivors Protection Act. Under this act, a child born alive during or after an abortion or attempted abortion shall have the same rights, privileges, and immunities as any other person, citizen, and resident of Missouri." The sponsor argued federal law does not ensure medical care and cited international data and gaps in U.S. reporting to explain the need for a state statute.

Several senators engaged in extended questioning. One senator asked whether the bill effectively duplicates federal protections; the sponsor replied he seeks an explicit state obligation to provide care and stronger criminal penalties where someone "knowingly performs or attempts to perform an overt act that kills a child born alive" — language the sponsor said would raise penalties above current law for those acts. A central point of floor contention concerned provisions on abortion drugs, speech and civil liability; some senators said certain sections read as bans on medication or self‑administered abortions and warned about First Amendment implications for speech or counseling.

The sponsor indicated openness to targeted amendments on the speech and medication‑drug language to avoid unintended consequences while preserving the bill’s core protection for infants who survive abortive attempts. After multiple inquiries and proposed amendments, the sponsor asked that the bill be placed on the informal calendar for further work; the body complied.

Floor exchanges repeatedly returned to the relationship between the proposed substitute and RSMo 565.300 (the infanticide statute), with the sponsor contending the existing carve‑out for legally performed abortion does not guarantee medical care for infants born alive and therefore requires statutory clarification. Senators from both sides expressed willingness to continue line‑by‑line negotiations on the language before further floor action.