In addition to allowing a baby to be destroyed by abortion, AB 2223 also contains a clause allowing the parent to end a child's life within the first 28 days after his or her birth. Though the proposal has been amended, attorney Susan Arnall of the Right to Life League says that section remains intact.
"AB 2223 is going to override all existing restrictions on abortion by granting total civil and criminal immunity to moms and all of those who cooperate with her -- all abortionists and anyone who assists her in obtaining her chosen pregnancy outcome," Arnall continues.
Even if an illegal act takes place, the cooperators are immune from being held accountable. In fact, if police try to investigate a situation, a cooperator can file a lawsuit to stop it.
"[The mother's] given the consent, and this person who is aiding or assisting -- we're going to call it a cooperator -- they don't have to be licensed," the attorney reports. "They don't have to be a doctor. They don't have to have any training whatsoever. So they can give her maybe chemical abortion pills; they can assist in any other way to help her in her abortion."
But if a woman dies during an abortion, if she consented to the procedure, no investigation or prosecution is allowed. The measure would erase all health regulations and negate a 1995 law that a baby born alive in an abortion be provided medical help to live.
Introduced by Assemblywoman Buffy Wicks, a Democrat, after criminal charges were filed against two women over stillbirths, the California Assembly has passed it, and the measure is currently going through the legislative process in the state Senate.
In an open letter to state lawmakers, the Right to Life League submits that "AB 2223 should be rejected as incompatible with existing laws protecting women's health."
