362 Infants Born Alive as Result of Botched Abortions Died in Last Decade

Recently, Planned Parenthood was caught advocating post birth abortion–infanticide.  Their lobbyist testified before a state legislature that if a baby was born alive as the result of a botched abortion, Planned Parenthood believed the decision whether to provide that baby struggling for life on the abortion clinic table lifesaving support, “should be between the patient and the health care provider.” 

In response to public outrage, Planned Parenthood removed its opposition from a bill that would require abortionists to provide lifesaving care to the newborn baby. Planned Parenthood says that these “extremely unlikely and highly unusual medical circumstances” just don’t happen.

Abortionist Kermit Gosnell stands trial for the gruesome murder of at least four babies born alive as the result of botched abortions.  Planned Parenthood and the abortion industry still respond that the situation of a baby born alive as a result of a botched abortion just doesn’t happen.

An undercover sting has exposed several abortionists who openly admit they would let a baby die if a live birth were to occur in spite of the attempted abortion.  The abortion industry says that this situation just doesn’t happen.

So that begs the question, how many babies are born alive as a result of botched abortions?  How many are left to die or killed?

While much of the devastating truth may never be known, what we are able to know is startling.  According to the ACLJ’s research and statistics recorded by the Centers for Decease Control and Prevention (CDC), 362 babies born alive following a botched abortion have died in the last decade.

While the circumstances surrounding their deaths and whether their lives could have been spared with proper medical attention are mostly unknown, what is known is that an attempted abortion is the only cause of death listed for these newborns and that they were born alive before dying.

Buried among the myriad of data points recorded by the CDC in its collection of mortality statistics is the cause of death recorded under ICD-10 code P96.4.  The International Classification of Diseases (ICD) 10th revision produced by the World Heath Organization lists ICD-10 code P96.4 as “Termination of pregnancy, affecting fetus and newborn” and specifically excludes that which affects the mother.

In the U.S., the CDC records this data in their WONDER database.  This official recordation only includes mortality data for live births as reported to the CDC.  A query in the CDC WONDER database for mortality statistics under ICD-10 code P96.4 (which is labeled “Termination of pregnancy, newborn” in the CDC database), reveals that 362 infant deaths (i.e. first born alive) as a result of an attempted abortion have been reported in the most recently available 10-year period, 2001-2010.

In other words, deaths assigned this code, as recorded by the CDC, are for a “termination of pregnancy,” i.e. abortion, that leads to the death of a “newborn,” i.e. a baby who had been born alive.  Since the intention of an abortion procedure (regardless of the reason why the procedure was initiated) is to terminate the life of a baby in utero, then these live-birth statistics refer to abortions that were, by definition, botched.

We directly contacted the CDC and received the following email response from CDC Statistician Kenneth Kochanek confirming our understanding of this data:

ICD-10 code P96.4 Termination of pregnancy, newborn

This code implies a medical termination of the pregnancy. When “termination of pregnancy” or “abortion” is the only reported cause of an infant death, the death is coded to P96.4.

Thus, according to data reported to the CDC, 362 infant deaths resulted from attempted (and subsequently botched) abortions, where the baby was first born alive and then died.

Our analysis is further supported by data from Canada that shows in the last reported ten years, “491 babies were left to die after they were born alive during abortions.”  A look at how these statistics are recorded by Canada’s official recording agency (also using ICD-10 code P96.4), explained here and here, further confirms the data recorded by the CDC.  In Britain it is reported that 50 babies are born alive as the result of botched abortions each year.  Additionally, an “estimated 44,000 abortion survivors” are living in the United States today.

These eye-opening statistics shed new light on an industry’s claim that this situation just doesn’t happen.

Moreover, these 362 reported deaths likely do not include even a fraction of the population of newborn infants who die at the hands of abortionists after getting their first breath of air.  Abortionists like Gosnell and those exposed in the recent undercover videos certainly aren’t reporting those deaths as such to the CDC.

The fact is babies do survive abortion; but the cruel reality is how long they survive is left in the hands of the abortionists who sought to end their lives in the first place, and often with little to no oversight.

These newborn infants, born alive, struggling for life on the abortion clinic table, deserve the same legal protections as you and I. So, too, do the hundreds of thousands of unborn babies who literally never see the light of day.