Vote Smart's Synopsis:

Vote to table a bill that requires infants born alive receive medically appropriate care to keep them alive.

Highlights:

• Defines “born alive” as the complete expulsion or extraction from the mother of a human infant, at any stage of development, who, after such expulsion or extraction, breathes, has a beating heart, or has definite movement of voluntary muscles, regardless of whether the umbilical cord has been cut and regardless of whether the expulsion or extraction occurs as a result of natural or induced labor, cesarean section, induced abortion, or other method (Sec. 132-B:2.II).

• Defines “health care provider” as any individual who may be asked to participate in any way in a health care service or procedure, including but not limited to, the following: a physician, physician’s assistant, nurse, APRN, nurse’s aide, medical assistant, hospital employee, medical facility employee, or reproductive health care facility employee (Sec. 132-B:2.III).

• Defines “medical facility” means any public or private hospital, clinic, center, medical school, medical training institute, health care facility, physician’s office, infirmary, dispensary, ambulatory surgical treatment center, or other institution or location wherein medical care or treatment is provided to any person (Sec. 132-B:2.IV).

• Alleges it is the purpose of the state of New Hampshire to assert a compelling state interest in protecting the life of any infant born alive as a legal person for all purposes under the laws of the state of New Hampshire, and entitled to all the protections of such laws, including the right to medically appropriate and reasonable care and treatment (Sec. 1).

• Establishes the following born alive infant protections (Sec. 132-B:3):

• Any born alive infant, including one born in the course of an abortion, shall be treated as a legal person under the laws of this state, with the same rights to medically appropriate and reasonable care and treatment.

• Any health care provider present at the time the infant is born shall take all medically appropriate and reasonable actions to preserve the life and health of the born alive infant.

• Establishes any health care provider who intentionally or knowingly violates this law is guilty of a class A felony (Sec. 132-B:4).

• Requires any health care provider, medical facility, reproductive health care facility, or employee or volunteer of a medical facility or reproductive health care facility that has knowledge of a failure to comply with the provisions of this chapter will immediately report the failure to an appropriate law enforcement agency (Sec. 132-B:5).

Full Bill Text