Born Alive After Abortion: Canada Reports Data — Why Not America?

An opinion piece in Canada’s Western Standard sheds light on a deeply troubling reality: one in four late-term abortions in Alberta, Canada, resulted in a baby being born alive — and many were left to die without medical care.

According to the Western Standard, the federal agency responsible for compiling and reporting health data across Canada, Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI), reported a total of 133 late-term abortions in Alberta in the 2023-2024 year. Based on data analyzed by pro-life researchers and originally raised in the Alberta Legislative Assembly, this should spark serious concern — and immediate action — not only in Canada, but also in the United States.

According to the Canadian data, out of 133 late-term abortion procedures, 28 babies survived the abortion. These weren’t “non-viable tissue,” as the abortion industry so often claims. They were living, breathing infants, whose humanity became undeniable in their cries and movements.

Instead of receiving medical attention, however, they were abandoned and left to die. These aren’t abstract numbers — these are living, breathing children.

I know this reality all too well because I am one of those statistics. I survived an abortion in 1977.

When my birth mom was 31 weeks pregnant, her mother, a prominent nurse at a local hospital, forced her to have an abortion to end my life. For days they injected a saline infusion into the amniotic fluid, a solution designed to poison and scald me until I was delivered dead. On the fifth day, I was born, leading my birth mom to think the abortion was successful. I was then rushed to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) — and, unbeknownst to her, I lived and was placed up for adoption.

At The Abortion Survivors Network, we know firsthand the weight of such statistics — because we are living proof that survival is possible. It isn’t easy being an abortion survivor. What many don’t know is that while we fought to survive physically as babies, that mental fight continues well into adulthood. We shouldn’t have to continue to fight something we defeated as babies.

There are roughly over 10,000 late-term abortions performed annually in the U.S. and that is a conservative estimate. If even 25% resulted in a live birth, as the Alberta data suggests, that would amount to 2,500 infants born alive every year.

Yet in the U.S., each state has different reporting requirements and laws. For example, in Minnesota there is no ban for abortion regardless of what trimester a woman is in, she could be at 35 weeks and decide she no longer wants the child, and she can legally seek an abortion. Aside from states differing on abortion law, there is no nationwide federal requirement to report when a child is born alive during an attempted abortion. And because there are no federal “born alive” reporting standards, there is a lot we don’t know. The pro-abortion crowd may say it “doesn’t happen” but how would they know if there is no tracking, reporting and they refuse to listen to survivors and mothers?

This lack of adequate data stems from several factors, including variations in state reporting requirements or perhaps some states choosing not to report abortion data at all.

Opponents of Born Alive protections often argue that surviving infants who are born-alive are often too premature or sick to survive. But that misses the point entirely. Our data show that infants refute the opponent’s arguments about viability — these babies who were diagnosed with fetal anomalies survived being aborted in the second trimester.

Our medical system cares for premature babies, critically ill newborns, and children with disabilities every day — why should it be any different for a baby born alive after an abortion?

The measure of a humane society is not whether every life can be saved, but whether every life is treated with dignity and given a chance.

What we need is strong federal Born Alive legislation that does the following:

• Requires mandatory reporting of all instances where infants survive abortion attempts.
• Mandates medical care for every baby born alive, no matter the circumstances of their birth.
• Ensures long-term physical and mental health support for both the child and the mother when the abortion procedure fails.
• Establishes medical training and legal accountability, so that no infant is left to die without intervention.

It’s time to ask: How many babies survive abortions in the U.S., but do not survive the system’s silence?

These children deserve our voice, our laws, and our care.

Every child who survives an abortion deserves to be more than a statistic.

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Melissa Ohden, is the founder and CEO of The Abortion Survivors Network and is a pro-life speaker, leader, and advocate who often appears on television and radio shows. She has spoken on Fox News, The 700 Club, Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN), One America News (OAN), Hannity, Focus on the Family, and more. Having earned her Master’s in Social Work, Melissa is also the author of You Carried Me: A Daughter’s Memoir.

If you or someone you know is an abortion survivor, please reach out to Melissa Ohden at [email protected].

The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.