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‘After-birth abortion’ raised in Tennessee Senate race has no medical basis, experts say

Staff photo by Olivia Ross  / Students for Life of Southeast Tennessee and other local anti-abortion activists carry a banner on Jan. 22 in Chattanooga.
Staff photo by Olivia Ross / Students for Life of Southeast Tennessee and other local anti-abortion activists carry a banner on Jan. 22 in Chattanooga. Staff photo by Olivia Ross / Students for Life of Southeast Tennessee and other local anti-abortion activists carry a banner on Jan. 22 in Chattanooga.


The misinformed notion that an abortion can occur after birth — which recently became a point of contention in Tennessee’s U.S. Senate race — has no medical basis, according to doctors who practice abortion care and treat complex pregnancies.

In Tennessee’s Senate race, U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn recently used Democratic opposition to a U.S. House Republican-passed bill known as the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act to suggest her Democratic opponents support abortion even after birth.

The bill would require that clinicians provide medical care in cases in which an abortion results in a live birth, including admitting the child to a hospital.

“I know that they have supported abortion up to the last minute before and after birth,” Blackburn said during a recent appearance on Fox Business.