Arizona now will have what may be the most comprehensive requirements in the country on what doctors have to do if a baby is born alive during an abortion.
Until now the law has said if there is a live birth, it is the duty of doctors in attendance to see that “all available means and medical skills are used to preserve and maintain the life of such fetus or embryo.”
The new law provides the first-ever definition in Arizona of “delivered alive.” That covers any fetus or embryo, no matter how premature, who shows breathing, a heartbeat, umbilical cord pulsation or “definite movement of voluntary muscles.”
At that point, medical professionals must do everything possible to keep the baby alive. A separate provision says any clinic that does abortions on women beyond the 20th week of pregnancy must have someone available with neonatal skills to care for the child if born alive.
