HOUSE BILL NO. 1667 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
INTRODUCED BY REPRESENTATIVE SEITZ.
3882H.01I JOSEPH ENGLER, Chief Clerk
AN ACT To repeal section 188.035, RSMo, and to enact in lieu thereof one new section relating to abortion, with penalty provisions.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the state of Missouri, as follows:
Section A. Section 188.035, RSMo, is repealed and one new section enacted in lieu 2 thereof, to be known as section 188.035, to read as follows: 188.035. [Whoever, with intent to do so, shall take the life of a child aborted alive, 2 shall be guilty of murder of the second degree.] 1. This section shall be known and may be 3 cited as the "Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act". 4 2. A child born alive during or after an abortion or an attempted abortion shall 5 have all the rights, privileges, and immunities available to other persons, citizens, and 6 residents of this state, including any other liveborn child. 7 3. Any health care provider licensed, registered, or certified in this state who is 8 present at the time a child is born alive during or after an abortion or attempted 9 abortion shall: 10 (1) Exercise the same degree of professional skill, care, and diligence to preserve 11 the life and health of the child as a reasonably diligent and conscientious health care 12 provider would render to any other child born alive at the same gestational age; and 13 (2) Ensure that the child born alive is immediately transported and admitted to a 14 hospital following the exercise of skill, care, and diligence required under subdivision (1) 15 of this subsection. 16 4. (1) A health care provider or employee of a hospital, a physician's office, or 17 an abortion clinic who has knowledge of a violation of subsection 3 of this section shall
EXPLANATION — Matter enclosed in bold-faced brackets [thus] in the above bill is not enacted and is intended to be omitted from the law. Matter in bold-face type in the above bill is proposed language. HB 1667 2
18 immediately report such violation to an appropriate state or federal law enforcement 19 agency. Any such person who fails to report a violation shall, upon conviction, be 20 punished by imprisonment of not more than five years or by fine of not less than two 21 thousand five hundred dollars but not more than ten thousand dollars or by both such 22 imprisonment and fine. 23 (2) Any person who knowingly performs or attempts to perform an overt act 24 that kills a child born alive described under subsection 3 of this section shall be guilty of 25 first degree murder under section 565.020. 26 5. In addition to any criminal or administrative liability which may be incurred, 27 a person shall be civilly liable when he or she: 28 (1) Knowingly, recklessly, or negligently causes the death of a child who is born 29 alive during or after an abortion or an attempted abortion; 30 (2) Knowingly fails to comply with any of the provisions of subsection 3 of this 31 section if the person is a health care provider subject to such provisions; 32 (3) Knowingly performs or induces, or attempts to perform or induce, an 33 unlawful abortion upon another person; 34 (4) Knowingly, recklessly, or negligently supplies or makes available any 35 instrument, device, medicine, drug, or any other means or substance for another person 36 to undergo a self-induced abortion or attempted self-induced abortion or to procure an 37 unlawful abortion or attempted unlawful abortion; or 38 (5) Knowingly incites, solicits, or otherwise uses speech or writing as an integral 39 part of conduct in violation of a valid criminal statute to influence another person to 40 undergo a self-induced abortion or attempted self-induced abortion or to procure an 41 unlawful abortion or attempted unlawful abortion. 42 6. If injury or death arises out of or results from any circumstance under 43 subsection 5 of this section to any of the following persons, including: 44 (1) A person upon whom the unlawful abortion or attempted unlawful abortion 45 was performed or induced; 46 (2) A person who underwent a self-induced abortion or attempted self-induced 47 abortion or who procured an unlawful abortion or attempted unlawful abortion; 48 (3) A child who was born alive during or after an abortion or attempted 49 abortion; or 50 (4) An unborn child, 51 52 then a cause of action for personal injury, bodily injury, or wrongful death may be 53 brought. In a cause of action for wrongful death, the spouse, partner, parents, siblings, 54 and children of the deceased person shall be entitled to bring the action. Damages for HB 1667 3
55 injury or death may be recovered for, including, but not limited to, any damages 56 described in chapters 537 and 538 that are applicable; loss of future fertility; loss of love 57 and companionship of the spouse, partner, parent, child, unborn child, or sibling; and 58 for injury to or destruction of the spouse, partner, parent, child, unborn child, or sibling 59 relationship in such amount as, under all the circumstances of the case, may be just. 60 The court shall also award a prevailing plaintiff reasonable attorney's fees and litigation 61 costs, including, but not limited to, expert witness fees and expenses as part of the costs. 62 A defendant shall not be permitted to plead or prove as a defense that the plaintiff or 63 deceased person assumed the risk of undergoing, or consented to undergo, a self- 64 induced abortion or attempted self-induced abortion or that the plaintiff or deceased 65 person assumed the risk of procuring, or consented to procure, an unlawful abortion or 66 attempted unlawful abortion. The fact that a plaintiff or deceased person consented to 67 undergo a self-induced abortion or attempted self-induced abortion or to procure an 68 unlawful abortion or attempted unlawful abortion shall not, in and of itself, be 69 considered evidence of contributory or comparative negligence. Any exculpatory 70 agreement between or among parties that is related to undergoing a self-induced 71 abortion or attempted self-induced abortion or to procuring an unlawful abortion or 72 attempted unlawful abortion shall be against public policy and shall be void. 73 7. The natural and spontaneous loss of an unborn child before fetal viability 74 shall not be construed to be an abortion, as such term is defined in section 188.015. ✔
Statutes affected: