North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper Vetoes Bill to Stop Infanticide, Care for Babies Born Alive
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper vetoed a bill Thursday that would have protected newborn babies from infanticide in his state.
Cooper, a pro-abortion Democrat endorsed by Planned Parenthood, criticized the bill as “unnecessary” and claimed it would “criminalize doctors for a practice that simply does not exist,” Fox News 8 reports.
“Laws already protect newborn babies and this bill is an unnecessary interference between doctors and their patients,” Cooper said in his veto message. “This needless legislation would criminalize doctors and other healthcare providers for a practice that simply does not exist.”
The state legislature passed the Born Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act on Tuesday. State Senate Bill 359 would require abortion workers to provide the same level of medical care to an infant born alive from a botched abortion that they would any other infant born at the same gestational age. It also would require the infant to be transferred to a hospital for further care. Health workers also would be require to report these instances to authorities. Abortion workers who violate the measure could face felony charges.
Republican lawmakers swiftly condemned the governor for refusing to protect newborn babies from infanticide.
