Abortion group says the term 'born alive' is 'not grounded in medical science'

An influential pro-choice group this week slammed President Trump's executive order strengthening protections for infants born alive after abortions, claiming the very term "born alive" is "not grounded in medical science." 

Trump's order, issued Friday, directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to ensure that U.S. law regarding infants born alive after abortions—such as the Born-Alive Infants Protection Act—is enforced in hospitals receiving federal funding.

The order also directs federal funding to be prioritized for medical facilities that "provide training to medical personnel regarding the provision of life-saving medical treatment to all infants born alive."

Ahead of the Friday order, earlier this week NARAL Pro-Choice America issued a blistering criticism of the intended directive, claiming that the term "born alive," which refers in part to infants that survive abortion procedures, lies outside of the bounds of medical terminology. 

The phrase is "an inflammatory and inaccurate term not rooted in medical science and used by anti-choice activists and politicians who claim they want to protect an infant who is 'born alive'," the group's press release argued. 

Though the group claimed that the term "born alive" is not scientific, the press release appeared to at least implicitly concede that babies who survive abortion are in fact born alive as the term suggests. 

"In these tragic cases, a baby is dying," the release states, "and politicians are suggesting taking away a parent’s ability to make the best decision for their family about palliative care for the infant in exceptionally difficult circumstances."