82nd Legislative Day
April 4, 2002
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR WATSON)
The question is, shall Senate Bill 1655 pass. All those in
favor, vote Aye. Opposed, vote No. The voting is open. Have all
voted who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who
wish? ...the record. On that question, there's 15 voting Yes, 36
voting No, 4 voting Present. Senate Bill 1655, having failed to
receive the constitutional majority, fails. Senate Bill 1661.
Senator O'Malley. Madam Secretary, please read the bill.
ACTING SECRETARY HAWKER:
Senate Bill 1661.
(Secretary reads title of bill)
3rd Reading of the bill.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR WATSON)
Senator O'Malley.
SENATOR O'MALLEY:
Thank you, Madam President -- or, Mr. President. Excuse me.
The -- the package that is before you, this is the first bill,
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1661. It's associated with 1662 and 1663 that follow. This
package is known -- has become known as the "Born Alive" package.
1661 creates the Induced Birth Infant Liability Act, creates a
cause of action where medical care, as provided for in Senate Bill
1663, is not provided. I'd be happy to answer any questions there
may be.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR WATSON)
Is there any discussion? Is there any discussion? If not,
the question is, shall Senate Bill 1661 pass. All those in favor,
vote Aye. Opposed, vote No. The voting is open. Have all voted
who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish?
Take the record. On that question, 31 voting Yes, 11 voting No, 10
voting Present. Senate Bill 1661, having received the required
constitutional majority, is declared passed. Senate Bill 1662.
Senator O'Malley. Madam Secretary, please read the bill.
ACTING SECRETARY HAWKER:
Senate Bill 1662.
(Secretary reads title of bill)
3rd Reading of the bill.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR WATSON)
Senator O'Malley.
SENATOR O'MALLEY:
Thank you, Mr. President. 1662 is the second component of the
"Born Alive" package, and it defines a born-alive infant in order
to resecure the rights of children who are born under any
circumstances to equal protection under the law. Be -- again, I'd
be happy to answer any questions there may be.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR WATSON)
Is there any discussion? Is there any discussion? If not,
the question is, shall Senate Bill 1662 pass. All those in favor,
vote Aye. Opposed, vote No. The voting is open. Have all voted
who wish? Have all voted who wish? Have all voted who wish?
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Take the record. On that question, there's 30 voting Yes, 12
voting No, 10 voting Present. Senate Bill 1662, having received
the required constitutional majority, is declared passed. Senate
Bill 1663. Senator O'Malley. Madam Secretary, please read the
bill.
ACTING SECRETARY HAWKER:
Senate Bill 1663.
(Secretary reads title of bill)
3rd Reading of the bill.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR WATSON)
Senator O'Malley.
SENATOR O'MALLEY:
Mr. President, again, thank you. This is the third component
of the "Born Alive" package, and what it provides is that a child
born under any circumstances would receive all reasonable measures
consistent with good medical practice. Also requires a second
physician to give an opinion of viability and to deliver such
reasonable measures of care as are defined in 1663. Again, I'd be
happy to answer any questions there may be.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR WATSON)
Is there any discussion? Senator Cullerton.
SENATOR CULLERTON:
Would the sponsor yield?
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR WATSON)
Sponsor indicates he'll yield.
SENATOR CULLERTON:
Senator O'Malley, which one of these bills was the Medical
Society -- did they testify against? Was it all three of 'em or
just this one?
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR WATSON)
Senator O'Malley.
SENATOR O'MALLEY:
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You know, I -- I really can't speak for them, but I suspect
their major issue was with 1661.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR WATSON)
Any further discussion? Senator Obama.
SENATOR OBAMA:
Thank you, Mr. President. Will the sponsor yield for a
question?
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR WATSON)
Sponsor indicates he'll yield.
SENATOR OBAMA:
Yeah. Just along the same lines. Obviously this is an issue
that we've debated extensively both in committee and on the Floor,
so I -- you know, I don't want to belabor it. But I did want to
point out, as I understood it, during the course of the discussion
in committee, one of the things that we were concerned about, or
at least I expressed some concern about, was what impact this
would have with respect to the relationship between the doctor and
the patient and what liabilities the doctor might have in this
situation. So, can you just describe for me, under this
legislation, what's going to be required for a doctor to meet the
requirements that you've set forth?
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR WATSON)
Senator O'Malley.
SENATOR O'MALLEY:
Senator Obama, first of all, there is established, under this
legislation, that a child born under such circumstances would
receive all reasonable measures consistent with good medical
practice, and that's as defined, of course, by the -- you know,
the practice of medicine in the community where this would occur.
It also requires, in two instances, that -- that an attending
physician be -- be brought in to assist and advise with respect to
the issue of viability and, in particular, where there's a --
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there's a suspicion on behalf of the physician that the child --
may -- may be -- may be viable - that there's a suspicion - so
that the attending physician would make that decision as to
whether that would be the case. The other one is where the child
is actually born alive and then is -- is -- is actually born
alive, in which case, then, the physician would call as soon as
practically possible for a second physician to come in and
determine the viability.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR WATSON)
Senator Obama.
SENATOR OBAMA:
So -- and again, I'm -- I'm not going to prolong this, but I
just want to be clear because I think this was the source of the
objections of the Medical Society. As I understand it, this puts
the burden on the attending physician who has determined, since
they were performing this procedure, that, in fact, this is a
nonviable fetus; that if that fetus, or child - however way you
want to describe it - is now outside the mother's womb and the
doctor continues to think that it's nonviable but there's, let's
say, movement or some indication that, in fact, they're not just
coming out limp and dead, that, in fact, they would then have to
call a second physician to monitor and check off and make sure
that this is not a live child that could be saved. Is that
correct?
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR WATSON)
Senator O'Malley.
SENATOR O'MALLEY:
In -- in the first instance, obviously the physician that is
performing the procedure would make the determination. The second
situation is where the child actually is born and is alive, and
then there's an assessment -- an independent assessment of
viability by -- by -- by another physician at the soonest
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practical date -- or, time.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR WATSON)
Senator Obama.
SENATOR OBAMA:
Let me just go to the bill, very quickly. Essentially, I
think, as -- as this emerged during debate and during committee,
the only plausible rationale, to my mind, for this legislation
would be if you had a suspicion that a doctor, the attending
physician, who has made an assessment that this is a nonviable
fetus and that, let's say for the purposes of the mother's health,
is being -- that -- that labor is being induced, that that
physician (a) is going to make the wrong assessment and (b) if the
physician discovered, after the labor had been induced, that, in
fact, he made an error, or she made an error, and, in fact, that
this was not a nonviable fetus but, in fact, a live child, that
that physician, of his own accord or her own accord, would not try
to exercise the sort of medical measures and practices that would
be involved in saving that child. Now, if -- if you think that
there are possibilities that doctors would not do that, then maybe
this bill makes sense, but I -- I suspect and my impression is, is
that the Medical Society suspects as well that doctors feel that
they would be under that obligation, that they would already be
making these determinations and that, essentially, adding a -- an
additional doctor who then has to be called in an emergency
situation to come in and make these assessments is really designed
simply to burden the original decision of the woman and the
physician to induce labor and perform an abortion. Now, if that's
the case - and -- and I know that some of us feel very strongly
one way or another on that issue - that's fine, but I think it's
important to understand that this issue ultimately is about
abortion and not live births. Because if these are children who
are being born alive, I, at least, have confidence that a doctor
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who is in that room is going to make sure that they're looked
after. Thank you, Mr. President.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR WATSON)
Is there any further discussion? Any further discussion? If
not, Senator O'Malley, to close.
SENATOR O'MALLEY:
Thank you, Mr. President. I appreciate the comments from the
previous speaker, but I can assure you that the interests of
everybody, I think, in -- in this State would be to protect the
life of a child, including the physicians who are involved there.
And I believe that the second-opinion physician would actually, in
many ways, protect not only the interests of that child, which is
its primary responsibility, but to make sure that if there -- was
any error in judgment of any kind by the -- the primary physician,
that -- that -- the -- the -- the burden association -- associated
with -- with that failure and decision would be minimized. And
so, I would request your support of this legislation so that this
package can move to the Illinois House, where it can be given some
serious consideration. Thank you.
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- A new video of a Planned Parenthood staff member in New Jersey has surfaced showing abortion centers leave babies to die who survive failed abortions. The video shows the kind of infanticide that Barack Obama opposed stopping in Illinois continues to occur.