AN ACT RELATING TO HEALTH AND SAFETY -- BORN-ALIVE INFANT PROTECTION ACT (Provides duties/obligations of medical personnel to born-alive infants resulting from an abortion punishable as a felony along with a civil action for compensatory/punitive damages/automatic one year license suspension.)

H7435

2026 -- H 7435
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LC003937
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STATE OF RHODE ISLAND
IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY
JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2026
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A N A C T
RELATING TO HEALTH AND SAFETY -- BORN-ALIVE INFANT PROTECTION ACT

Introduced By:
Representatives Perez, Fellela, Fascia, Roberts, Santucci, Serpa,
Azzinaro, Hull, Hopkins, and Diaz

Date Introduced:
January 30, 2026

Referred To:
House Judiciary
It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:
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SECTION 1. The legislature hereby makes the following findings of fact and states the
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purpose of this chapter is to protect a live birth infant as a legal person.
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(a) The general assembly of the State of Rhode Island finds that:
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(1) The State of Rhode Island has a paramount interest in protecting all human life.
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(2) If an attempted abortion results in the live birth of an infant, the infant is a legal person
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for all purposes under the laws of this state.
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(3) It is not an infringement on a woman's right to terminate her pregnancy for this state to
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assert its interest in protecting an infant whose live birth occurred as the result of an attempted
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abortion.
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(4) Without proper legal protection, newly born infants who have survived attempted
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abortions have been denied appropriate life-saving or life-sustaining medical care and treatment
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and have been left to die.
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(b) Based on the findings in subsection (a) of this section, it is the purpose of this chapter
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to:
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(1) Ensure the protection and promotion of the health and well-being of all infants born
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alive in this state; and
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(2) Mandate that healthcare providers give medically appropriate and reasonable life-
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saving and life-sustaining medical care and treatment to all born-alive infants.
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SECTION 2. Title 23 of the General Laws entitled "HEALTH AND SAFETY" is hereby

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amended by adding thereto the following chapter:
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CHAPTER 106
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BORN-ALIVE INFANT PROTECTION ACT
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23-106-1. Short title.
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This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the "Born-Alive Infant Protection Act."
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23-106-2. Definitions.
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As used in this chapter:
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(1) "Abortion" means the act of using or prescribing any instrument, medicine, drug, or
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any other substance, device, or means with the intent to terminate the clinically diagnosable
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pregnancy of a woman with knowledge that the termination by those means will, with reasonable
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likelihood, cause the death of the unborn child. Such use, prescription, or means is not an abortion
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if done with the intent to:
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(i) Save the life or preserve the health of the unborn child;
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(ii) Remove a dead unborn child caused by spontaneous abortion; or
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(iii) Remove an ectopic pregnancy.
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(2) "Born-alive" or "live birth" means the complete expulsion or extraction of an infant
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from their mother, regardless of the state of gestational development, that, after expulsion or
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extraction, whether or not the umbilical cord has been cut or the placenta is attached, and regardless
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of whether the expulsion or extraction occurs as a result of natural or induced labor, cesarean
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section, or induced abortion, shows any evidence of life, including, but not limited to, one or more
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of the following:
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(i) Breathing;
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(ii) A heartbeat;
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(iii) Umbilical cord pulsation; or
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(iv) Definite movement of voluntary muscles.
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(3) "Consent" means the voluntary agreement or acquiescence by a person of age and with
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the requisite mental capacity who is not under duress or coercion and who has knowledge or
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understanding of the act or action to which they have agreed or acquiesced.
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(4) "Facility" or "medical facility" means any public or private hospital, clinic, center,
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medical school, medical training institution, healthcare facility, physician's office, infirmary,
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dispensary, ambulatory surgical treatment center, or other institution or location wherein medical
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care is provided to any person.
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(5) "Infant" means a child of the species homo sapiens who has been completely expulsed
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or extracted from their mother, regardless of the stage of gestational development, until the age of

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thirty (30) days post birth.
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(6) "Physician" means a person licensed to practice medicine in the State of Rhode Island.
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This term includes medical doctors and doctors of osteopathy.
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(7) "Premature" or "preterm" means occurring prior to the thirty-seventh week of gestation.
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23-106-3. Requirements and responsibilities.
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(a) A person shall not deny or deprive an infant of nourishment with the intent to cause or
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allow the death of the infant for any reason, including, but not limited to:
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(1) The infant was born with a handicap;
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(2) The infant is not wanted by the parent(s) or guardian(s); or
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(3) The infant is born alive by natural or artificial means.
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(b) A person shall not deprive an infant of medically appropriate and reasonable medical
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care and treatment or surgical care.
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(c) The requirements of this section shall not be construed to prevent an infant's parent(s)
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or guardian(s) from refusing to give consent to medical treatment or surgical care which is not
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medically necessary or reasonable, including care or treatment which either:
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(1) Is not necessary to save the life of the infant;
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(2) Has a potential risk to the infant's life or health that outweighs the potential benefit to
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the infant of the treatment or care; or
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(3) Is treatment that will do no more than temporarily prolong the act of dying when death
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is imminent.
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(d) (1) The physician performing an abortion shall take all medically appropriate and
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reasonable steps to preserve the life and health of a born-alive infant. If an abortion performed in a
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hospital results in a live birth, the physician attending the abortion shall provide immediate medical
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care to the infant, inform the mother of the live birth, and request transfer of the infant to an on-
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duty resident or emergency care physician who shall provide medically appropriate and reasonable
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medical care and treatment to the infant.
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(2) If an abortion performed in a facility other than a hospital results in a live birth, a
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physician attending the abortion shall provide immediate medical care to the infant and call 9-1-1
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for an emergency transfer of the infant to a hospital that shall provide medically appropriate and
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reasonable care and treatment to the infant.
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(e) If the physician described in subsection (d) of this section is unable to perform the duties
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in that subsection because they are assisting the woman on whom the abortion was performed, then
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an attending physician's assistant, nurse, or other healthcare provider shall assume the duties
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outlined in subsection (d) of this section.

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(f) Any born-alive infant including one born in the course of an abortion procedure shall
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be treated as a legal person under the laws of this state, with the same rights to medically appropriate
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and reasonable care and treatment, and birth and death (if death occurs) certificates shall be issued
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accordingly.
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(g) If, before the abortion, the mother, and if married, her husband, has or have stated in
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writing that she, or they, do not wish to keep the infant in the event that the abortion results in a
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live birth, and this writing is not retracted before the attempted abortion, the infant, if born alive,
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shall immediately upon birth become a ward of the department of children, youth and families.
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(h) No person shall use any born-alive infant for any type of scientific research or other
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kind of experimentation except as necessary to protect or preserve the life and health of the born-
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alive infant.
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23-106-4. Exceptions.
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The parent(s) or guardian(s) of a born-alive infant shall not be held criminally or civilly
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liable for the actions of a physician, nurse, or other healthcare provider that are in violation of this
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chapter and to which the parent(s) or guardian(s) did not give consent.
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23-106-5. Criminal penalties.
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(a) Any physician, nurse, or other healthcare provider who intentionally, knowingly, or
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negligently fails to provide medically appropriate and reasonable care and treatment to a born- alive
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infant in the course of an attempted abortion shall be guilty of a felony and, upon conviction, shall
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be subject to imprisonment for a period of up to ten (10) years, or a fine of up to twenty-five
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thousand dollars ($25,000), or both.
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(b) Any violation of §23-100-3(h) concerning the research use of a born-alive infant is a
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felony and, upon conviction, shall be subject to imprisonment for a period of up to ten (10) years,
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or a fine of up to twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000), or both.
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23-106-6. Civil and administrative action.
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In addition to whatever remedies are available under the statutory or common law of this
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state, failure to comply with the requirements of this chapter shall:
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(1) Provide a basis for a civil action for compensatory and punitive damages. Any
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conviction under this chapter shall be admissible in a civil suit as prima facie evidence of a failure
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to provide medically appropriate and reasonable care and treatment to a born-alive infant. Any civil
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action may be based on a claim that the death of or injury to the born-alive infant was a result of
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simple negligence, gross negligence, wantonness, willfulness, intentional conduct, or another
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violation of the legal standard of care.
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(2) Provide a basis for professional disciplinary action under chapter 37 of title 5 for the

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suspension or revocation of any license for physicians, licensed and registered nurses, or other
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licensed or regulated persons. Any conviction of any person for any failure to comply with the
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requirements of this chapter shall result in the automatic suspension of their license for a period of
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at least one year and said license shall be reinstated after that time only under such conditions as
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the board of licensure and discipline shall require to ensure compliance with this chapter.
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(3) Provide a basis for recovery for the parent(s) of the infant or the parent(s) or guardian(s)
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of the mother, if the mother is a minor, for the wrongful death of the infant, whether or not the
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infant was viable at the time the attempted abortion was performed.
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23-106-7. Construction.
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(a) Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to affirm, deny, expand, or contract any legal
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status or legal right applicable to any member of the species homo sapiens at any point prior to
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being born-alive, as defined in this chapter.
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(b) Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to affect existing federal or state law
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regarding abortion.
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(c) Nothing in this chapter shall be construed as creating or recognizing a right to abortion.
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(d) Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to alter generally accepted medical standards.
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23-106-8. Severability.
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Any provision of this chapter held to be invalid or unenforceable by its terms, or as applied
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to any person or circumstance, shall be construed in order to give it the maximum effect permitted
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by law, unless such holding shall be one of utter invalidity or unenforceability, in which event such
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provision shall be deemed severable and shall not affect the remainder or the application of such
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provision to other persons not similarly situated or to other dissimilar circumstances.
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23-106-9. Right of intervention.
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The general assembly, by joint resolution, may appoint one or more of its members, who
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sponsored or cosponsored this chapter in the member's official capacity, to intervene as a matter of
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right in any case in which the constitutionality of this law is challenged.
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SECTION 3. This act shall take effect upon passage.
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EXPLANATION
BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL
OF
A N A C T
RELATING TO HEALTH AND SAFETY -- BORN-ALIVE INFANT PROTECTION ACT
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This act would provide for the duties and obligations of medical personnel in certain
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circumstances to infants born alive as the result of the performance of an abortion with violations
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punishable as a felony with imprisonment up to ten (10) years, or a fine of twenty-five thousand
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dollars ($25,000), or both. This act would also create a civil action for compensatory and punitive
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damages and provide a basis for professional disciplinary action with an automatic one year
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suspension for any convictions based on the provisions of this act.
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This act would take effect upon passage.
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