Definition of Extraordinary Medical Measures
H.B. 4103 – Rep. Andrew Fink |
||
Current Status H.B. 4103 was introduced on February 15, 2023, and was referred to the House Health Policy Committee. Description This bill defines extraordinary medical measures as any service or intervention not commonly recognized in Michigan’s neonatal care facilities for premature births. This definition is in relation to section 28 of article I of the state constitution (Prop 3). Background Section 28 of article I in the Michigan constitution defines fetal viability as “the point in pregnancy when, in the professional judgment of an attending health care professional and based on the particular facts of the case, there is a significant likelihood of the fetus’s sustained survival outside the uterus without the application of extraordinary medical measures.” This bill seeks to define “extraordinary medical measures” in relation to fetal viability so as to prevent extreme late-term abortions on healthy babies. Many babies born prematurely are viable as long as they receive neonatal care. Without a definition of “extraordinary medical measures,” otherwise viable babies could be aborted and/or left to die after a failed late-term abortion. History In November of 2022, Michigan residents voted yes on the constitutional amendment proposition 3 (or the Reproductive Freedom For all initiative), adding section 28 of article I into the state constitution to enshrine a right to abortion for all. Though the amendments states that the State may regulate the practice of abortion after fetal viability, Prop 3 redefines viability as those babies who can survive outside the womb without extraordinary care. This is a huge difference from the definition of fetal viability commonly understood by most people. The requirement that a baby must be able to survive outside with womb without extraordinary care is the exact opposite of the definition give in the Roe v. Wade decision which claimed viability was when the baby could survive outside the womb—albeit with aid. |