                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

PARTIAL BIRTH INFANTICIDE; PENALTY (§ 18.2-71.1)

A. Any person who knowingly performs partial birth infanticide and thereby kills
a human infant is guilty of a Class 4 felony.

B. For the purposes of this section, &#8220;partial birth infanticide&#8221;
means any deliberate act that (i) is intended to kill a human infant who has
been born alive, but who has not been completely extracted or expelled from its
mother, and that (ii) does kill such infant, regardless of whether death occurs
before or after extraction or expulsion from its mother has been completed.
			The term &#8220;partial birth infanticide&#8221; shall not under any
circumstances be construed to include any of the following procedures: (i) the
suction curettage abortion procedure, (ii) the suction aspiration abortion
procedure, (iii) the dilation and evacuation abortion procedure involving
dismemberment of the fetus prior to removal from the body of the mother, or (iv)
completing delivery of a living human infant and severing the umbilical cord of
any infant who has been completely delivered.

C. For the purposes of this section, &#8220;human infant who has been born
alive&#8221; means a product of human conception that has been completely or
substantially expelled or extracted from its mother, regardless of the duration
of pregnancy, which after such expulsion or extraction breathes or shows any
other evidence of life such as beating of the heart, pulsation of the umbilical
cord, or definite movement of voluntary muscles, whether or not the umbilical
cord has been cut or the placenta is attached.

D. For purposes of this section, &#8220;substantially expelled or extracted from
its mother&#8221; means, in the case of a headfirst presentation, the
infant&#8217;s entire head is outside the body of the mother, or, in the case of
breech presentation, any part of the infant&#8217;s trunk past the navel is
outside the body of the mother.

E. This section shall not prohibit the use by a physician of any procedure that,
in reasonable medical judgment, is necessary to prevent the death of the mother,
so long as the physician takes every medically reasonable step, consistent with
such procedure, to preserve the life and health of the infant. A procedure shall
not be deemed necessary to prevent the death of the mother if completing the
delivery of the living infant would prevent the death of the mother.

F. The mother may not be prosecuted for any criminal offense based on the
performance of any act or procedure by a physician in violation of this section.

HISTORY: 2003, cc. 961, 963.