Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs | Katie Hobbs/Facebook
Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs | Katie Hobbs/Facebook
Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs has vetoed a bill that would have required doctors to provide lifesaving care to all infants born alive, including those who survived an abortion, drawing the condemnation of the nonprofit Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America.
"It is ghoulish that any governor should permit infanticide on their watch," SBA Pro-Life America tweeted on May 6. "Sadly, extremism is the rule rather than the exception in today’s Democratic Party."
In a letter addressed to Arizona Senate President Warren Petersen (R-Gilbert), Hobbs said Senate Bill 1600 "interferes with the relationship between a patient and doctor. It's simply not the state's role to make such difficult medical decisions for patients. As a candidate, I promised to veto any bill that interferes with the reproductive rights of Arizonans. As governor, I intend to make good on that promise."
The Abortion Survivors Network estimates that more than 1,700 babies survive attempted abortions each year, according to the Catholic News Agency. “Although 1,734 is what we can account for based on those more medical procedures, it’s really hard to track the chemical abortions, which is going to yield a higher failure rate, which means a higher survival rate for those infants,” Sarah Moe, a member of Abortion Survivors Network, told the Catholic News Agency. “And those infants, in turn, are susceptible to exposure to another abortion.”
State Sen. Janae Shamp (R-Surprise), who introduced SB 1600, said the bill was intended to protect the vulnerable, according to AZ Mirror.
“I will always stand to protect those who cannot protect themselves,” Shamp told AZ Mirror.
If the bill became law, medical staff who do not try to provide life-saving care to babies born alive could have faced felony charges.
Abortion is legal in Arizona up to 15 weeks of pregnancy, according to Planned Parenthood.
Only 10 states require reporting on babies who are "born alive" after attempted abortions, and not all of those states share the data publicly, according to the Family Research Council.
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