The anti-abortion movement, which argues that an embryo or fetus has rights that must be protected by law, is largely upheld by the Republican Party.

The anti-abortion movement has claimed that viable infants have been left to die following failed abortion procedures.

[2] However, this law did not establish explicit criminal penalties for failing to treat such infants, and the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act has been introduced in every Congress since the 114th in attempts to remedy it.

The bill also authorizes a right to civil action to the mother of which an infant had been neglected care.

[1] Opponents of the bill have called its provisions unnecessary and misleading, with the criminal penalties having the potential to deter a doctor's best judgment.