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WASHINGTON, D.C., December 8, 2015 (LifeSiteNews) – As the world prepares to celebrate a holiday dedicated to a newborn Infant, Americans United for Life has unveiled a package of pro-life model legislation aimed at protecting infants from the aggression or indifference of the abortion industry.

The eight pieces of legislation would prohibit the sale of aborted children's body parts, protect children born alive during botched abortions, and prohibit babies from being aborted due to sexual discrimination, among other protections.

“Already, AUL is receiving requests for a legislative package to address not only the barbaric trafficking in infant body parts, revealed by the Center for Medical Progress videos, but also the inhumanity of late-term abortion procedures which cause excruciating deaths for infants and carry substantial health risks for women,” said AUL President and CEO Dr. Charmaine Yoest. “During this season, when many consider the beauty of a mother and her newborn son, Americans United for Life offers this package of legislation to care for both mother and child.”

AUL described the contents of its “Infants’ Protection Project”:

  1. Unborn Infants Dignity Act – prohibits experimenting on the remains of aborted infants and requires that, regardless of the circumstances of their demise, every deceased unborn infant is treated with dignity and respect, and that the bodies of aborted infants cannot be sold;

  2. Missouri Preamble” – a unique measure providing the fullest legal protection to unborn children possible under current U.S. Supreme Court’s abortion jurisprudence, and requiring that state laws be interpreted to provide such protection to the unborn;

  3. Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act – a state prohibition on partial-birth abortions, which provides stronger enforcement mechanisms than the federal ban;

  4. Prenatal Nondiscrimination Act – prohibits sex-selection abortions and abortions performed for genetic abnormalities including Down syndrome;

  5. Women’s Health Defense Act – limits abortions at five months of pregnancy based on the pain experienced by unborn children, and the substantial maternal health risks of such abortions. This bill was also a part of AUL’s Women’s Protection Project;

  6. Perinatal Hospice Information Act – informed consent enhancement requiring information about perinatal hospice and other supportive, life-affirming options for families facing lethal fetal anomalies;

  7. Born-Alive Infant Protection Act – requires that children who survive attempted abortions be given medically appropriate care and treatment; and

  8. Unborn Wrongful Death Act – authorizes a wrongful death civil action when an unborn child, at any stage of development, is killed through the criminal or negligent act of a third-party.

The child-protection focus of this year's legislation is a companion to AUL's “Women’s Protection Project,” introduced last year. “The Infants’ Protection Project builds on AUL’s uniquely effective mother-child strategy that considers both victims of a greedy abortion industry that places profits over people,” Dr. Yoest said.

Additional protections for life enjoy strong and surprisingly broad support in the polls. A recent Marist poll found that 84 percent of Americans “agree there should be significant restrictions and safeguards associated with the [abortion] procedure.”

AUL's full 2016 edition of Defending Lifeits annual book of proposed right to life legislation – will be released in January, traditionally marking the Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade decision. Pro-life observers are confident these protections will move forward.

“Momentum is on the side of life,” Dr. Yoest said. “There is more that we can do, and the Infants' Protection Project will equip legislators to protect the weakest among us, as we remember the birth of a special Child at Christmastime.”