HHS Seeks to Boost Protections for Newborns With Disabilities

A proposed rule issued Friday by the HHS would boost protections against disability discrimination for infants born alive.

The proposal would establish that agency regulations “protect patients, including infants born alive whose parents or guardians consent to treatment, from disability discrimination under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act,” the Department of Health and Human Services said in a statement.

It’s unlikely the rule will be finalized by the incoming Biden administration.

The proposed rule would shield against “unlawful denials of emergency screening or stabilizing treatment” and ban providers from steering patients towards withdrawing life-saving or life-sustaining care, the HHS said. ...