California bill AB 2223 passed the Assembly Health Committee in an 11-3 vote late Tuesday night, The Mercury News reports.
The bill removes criminal liability from mothers in relation to “all pregnancy outcomes” including the death of a newborn for any reason during the period following birth, according to the official Senate analysis of the legislation prepared by State Senate Legislative Director Alison Merrilees. The bill “could be interpreted to immunize a pregnant person from all criminal penalties for all pregnancy outcomes,” the analysis reads, “including the death of a newborn for any reason during the ‘perinatal’ period after birth.” …The Right to Life League contends that one section of AB 2223, which exempts mothers from civil and criminal liability if an infant dies during the perinatal period “due to a pregnancy-related cause,” essentially legalizes the killing of newborn babies. The bill “is intentional, strategic legislation designed to extend abortion rights past birth, to create a protected “fourth trimester” right to infanticide,” The Right to Life website reads.
