Those in favor argue babies who are born alive after an attempted abortion are considered a person and therefore, should be protected by law. Supporters point out the current Born-Alive Infant Protection Act, signed into law by President George H.W. Bush, does not contain criminal penalties or enforcement mechanisms to punish abortion providers who failed to give medical attention and care to these infants. This bill would address exactly that issue. House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) said, “This bill states simply that if a baby is born after a failed abortion attempt, he or she should be given the same medical care as a baby born any other way. In line with our longstanding commitment to empower women, mothers will never be held criminally accountable. However, doctors who fail to provide medical care to newborns will be held criminally accountable. There is absolutely no ambiguity here. This is about protecting babies who are born and alive, and nobody should be against that.”

Those against argue the proposed changes to the Born-Alive bill are overly broad, and are intended to intimidate abortion providers out of practice. Opponents say if abortion providers start going out of business then women will find another, potentially deadly, way to exercise their legal right to have an abortion. They also point out that there is no need for this bill to be passed. Jodi Liggett, a spokeswoman for Planned Parenthood Arizona, said, “You have legislation that already deals with this subject, plus you have doctors who have taken their oath. There are layers of ethical rules and laws that typically deal with this. We think the bill is unnecessary and is really just a pretext to grandstand this particular issue. People care about this economy moving again and that’s what they want their congress people to focus on – not dog-whistle issues.” Many feel this bill is aimed at vilifying abortion providers.