About the bill
H.R. 4712 establishes requirements for health care practitioners to exercise the proper degree of care in the case of a child who survives an abortion or attempted abortion. Specifically, the bill:
- Requires health care practitioners present at the time a child is born alive during an abortion or attempted abortion to exercise the same degree of care to preserve the life and health of the child as any health care practitioner would provide to a child born alive at the same gestational age;
- Requires that children born alive during an abortion or attempted abortion be transported and admitted to a hospital immediately following the administration of emergency care;
- Requires any health care practitioner, or employee of a hospital, physician’s office, or abortion clinic to immediately report violations of bill requirements …
Sponsor and status
Marsha Blackburn
Sponsor. Representative for Tennessee's 7th congressional district. Republican.
115th Congress (2017–2019)
This bill was introduced in a previous session of Congress and was passed by the House on January 19, 2018 but was never passed by the Senate.
Although this bill was not enacted, its provisions could have become law by being included in another bill. It is common for legislative text to be introduced concurrently in multiple bills (called companion bills), re-introduced in subsequent sessions of Congress in new bills, or added to larger bills (sometimes called omnibus bills).
131 Cosponsors (130 Republicans, 1 Democrat)
Position statements
What legislators are saying
“House Passes Bill Protecting Abortion Survivors”
—
Rep. Diane Black [R-TN6, 2011-2018]
(Co-sponsor)
on Jan 19, 2018
“<span class='\"kicker\"'>Washington Times Op-Ed by U.S. Rep. Smith</span>'Giving the smallest patients equal protection under the law'”
—
Rep. Christopher “Chris” Smith [R-NJ4]
(Co-sponsor)
on Jan 19, 2018
“Rep Nadler on the Born Alive Abortion Survivor Protection Act: A Cynical Ploy to Appease Anti-Choice Protestors in Washington Today”
—
Rep. Jerrold Nadler [D-NY12]
on Jan 19, 2018
History
H.R. 4712 (115th) was a bill in the United States Congress.
A bill must be passed by both the House and Senate in identical form and then be signed by the President to become law.
Bills numbers restart every two years. That means there are other bills with the number H.R. 4712. This is the one from the 115th Congress.
This bill was introduced in the 115th Congress, which met from Jan 3, 2017 to Jan 3, 2019. Legislation not passed by the end of a Congress is cleared from the books.
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“H.R. 4712 — 115th Congress: Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act.” www.GovTrack.us. 2017. March 28, 2023 <https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/115/hr4712>
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Where is this information from?
GovTrack automatically collects legislative information from a variety of governmental and non-governmental sources. This page is sourced primarily from Congress.gov, the official portal of the United States Congress. Congress.gov is generally updated one day after events occur, and so legislative activity shown here may be one day behind. Data via the congress project.