February 21, 2012
N.H. Bill Would Adjust Parental Notification
The law that requires pregnant girls seeking abortions tell their parents or get a judge's OK is back before the New Hampshire House. The House Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing on a bill to change the requirement that a judge issue a ruling within 48 hours to within two court business days. That would mean girls filing petitions late in a week would not hear back over a weekend, effectively lengthening their wait time. Read more...
February 16, 2012
Personhood Bill Clears Oklahoma Senate
Oklahoma lawmakers edged closer toward trying to outlaw abortion by approving personhood legislation that gives individual rights to an embryo from the moment of conception. The Republican-controlled state Senate voted 34-8 to pass the Personhood Act which defines the word person under state law to include unborn children from the moment of conception. The measure now goes to the state House where pro-life Republicans outnumber Democrats by more than a 2-1 margin. Read more...
Mississippi Lawmaker Introduces Personhood Bill
Senator Joey Fillingane filed a resolution that will change the state's constitution to add that life begins at conception and that public funds cannot be used to pay for an abortion unless the mother's life is in danger. The bill is similar to the "personhood amendment" which 58% of voters rejected in last year's general election. Governor Phil Bryant beleives the personhood language may have been too confusing for voters and believes the new resolution would be a lot clearer. Read more...
Anti-Abortion Bills Filed in Georgia Senate
Health insurance plans would be banned from providing abortion coverage under two bills filed in the state Senate. Senate Bill 434 would block qualified health plans from providing abortion coverage as allowed by federal law, except when the life of the mother is endangered. Sen. Judson Hill, R-Marietta, sponsored the bill and proposed calling it the "Federal Abortion Mandate Opt-Out Act." The second bill, Senate Bill 438, would ban state employee health insurance plans from offering coverage for abortion services. Sen. Mike Crane, R-Newnan, is the bill's sponsor. Read more...
February 15, 2012
Missouri Panel Backs Birth Control Measure
A debate in the Missouri Capitol over birth control grew Tuesday as a panel of lawmakers endorsed legislation that would allow any employer to refuse to provide health insurance coverage for contraception if doing so goes against the employer's religious beliefs. The legislation, which would allow employers to refuse to provide coverage for birth control, abortions or sterilization procedures, was approved by the Republican-controlled Senate Small Business, Insurance and Industry Committee on a 6-2 vote along party lines. Read more...
Personhood Bill Advances in Virginia
Virginia lawmakers took a step toward outlawing abortion by approving "personhood" legislation that grants individual rights to an embryo from the moment of conception. The Republican-controlled House of Delegates voted 66-32 in favor of defining the word person under state law to include unborn children "from the moment of conception until birth at every stage of biological development." Read more...
Washington Taxpayers to Fund Abortions?
The Washington state House approved a bill that would require that any insurance policy sold to state residents for maternity coverage also require policyholders to pay for coverage of abortions will get a vote soon. The House voted by a 52-46 vote to pass HB 2330 and send it on to the state Senate despite strong objection from pro-life advocates. Read more...
February 11, 2012
Pro-Life Proposals Await Votes in Michigan
Rallied by the approval last fall of a state law banning so-called "partial birth" abortion, Michigan abortion opponents are pushing for more in 2012 — from a "Choose Life" fundraising license plate to a ban on abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy. Those proposals are among a number that could gain traction in a state Legislature where nearly two-thirds of the lawmakers have been endorsed by Right to Life of Michigan. Read more...
Committee Hearing Heats Up on Kansas Abortion Bill
Temperatures rose during a committee hearing on a bill to add further restrictions on abortions. Kari Ann Rinker, state coordinator of the Kansas chapter of the National Organization for Women, called the bill a waste of taxpayers’ time and money. She told the House Federal and State Affairs Committee she knew she wouldn’t change anyone’s mind and the committee should just go ahead approve the bill. Read more...
February 09, 2012
S.D. House Panel Approves Abortion-Law Changes
With South Dakota's year-old abortion law facing legal challenges, a House committee endorsed a bill that would change some of the counseling requirements for women seeking abortions. The bill leaves intact the current law's main requirements, but changes some provisions that deal with a woman's consultations with doctors at abortion clinics and counselors at pregnancy help centers. Those discussions are supposed to determine whether a woman has been coerced into seeking an abortion. Read more...
February 08, 2012
Arizona Bill Would Impose New Abortion Restrictions
A sweeping anti-abortion bill would generally ban abortions starting at 20 weeks of pregnancy and impose an array of new disclosure requirements, including having the state post online depictions of fetuses at two-week intervals. The bill says the 20-week ban stems from concerns that fetuses at that stage can feel pain and that women have higher health risks from later abortions. The ban, which does not apply in medical emergencies, would affect only a small percentage of abortions performed in Arizona. Read more...
Abortion Provision Added to Nebraska Bill
No money from expanded Medicaid coverage of family planning services could go to Planned Parenthood, under an amendment adopted Tuesday by Nebraska lawmakers. Senators attached the prohibition to Legislative Bill 540 on a vote of 25-8, then gave first-round approval to the bill. LB 540 directs state officials to seek a Medicaid waiver to provide family planning services for women who make up to 185 percent of the federal poverty level. Read more...
February 07, 2012
Pennsylvania Panel OKs Ultrasound Bill
The Pennsylvania House Health Committee voted on Monday to advance the Women's Right to Know Act (House Bill 1077), which would offer a pregnant woman the chance to view an ultrasound image of her unborn child and observe the baby's heartbeat prior to an abortion. The bill passed with support from both Republicans and Democrats on the committee. "Before a woman makes a decision as grave as abortion, she should have the chance to see what's really going on in her pregnancy," said Maria Vitale Gallagher, legislative director for the Pennsylvania Pro-Life Federation. Read more...
February 06, 2012
Virginia Lawmakers Pass Abortion, Adoption Bills
Virginia would halt taxpayer-funded abortions for low-income women in cases where the fetus is severely physically deformed or mentally deficient under Republican-backed legislation passed Friday by state lawmakers. The House of Delegates voted 64-35 to strip the Board of Health of its ability to fund abortions for Medicaid recipients when a physician certifies that the fetus would be born with a "gross and totally incapacitating physical deformity or mental deficiency." Read more...
February 02, 2012
Virginia Senate Okays Ultrasound Bill
Virginia women seeking an abortion may soon be required to undergo an ultrasound first. The Virginia Senate approved the requirement on a 21-18 vote mainly along party lines. It is the first abortion-related measure to pass the Senate since Republicans took effective control of the chamber following the fall elections; more are pending. The bill from Sen. Jill Vogel would make women seeking abortions get an ultrasound, give them a chance to view the image and require providers to keep a copy of it on file. Read more...
Bill Would Repeal Obama Anti-Conscience Mandate
Senator Marco Rubio, a Florida Republican, has filed legislation in the Senate to repeal a new ObamaCare mandate that violates the religious liberties and conscience rights of faith-based institutions by forcing them to offer employees insurance coverage for contraceptives, birth control or drugs that can cause abortions. The Obama Administration issued a statement re-iterating the "contraceptive mandate" requiring all insurance providers cover the full range of FDA-approved drugs and devices would remain intact. Read more...
February 01, 2012
New Arizona Proposal Would Set Up 'Roe' Challenge
Sen. Steve Smith, R-Maricopa, said that Arizona already has fairly substantial laws requiring that women give "informed consent" before terminating a pregnancy. That includes everything from a discussion of the risks and a 24-hour waiting period to offering to let the woman see an ultrasound of the fetus. Smith acknowledged his goal in imposing new requirements is to convince women to decide against an abortion. But the most significant part of SB 1494 is that it would alter Arizona law to define human life as beginning at conception. Read more...
Austin Passes Another Unconstitutional Ordiance
Last week, the city of Austin repealed one speech-chilling ordinance targeting the city's crisis pregnancy centers – and replaced it with another. The new ordinance does not mandate specific wording, but compels crisis pregnancy centers to post signs on their grounds stating whether all their medical services are supervised by a licensed health care provider or practitioner and if it is a medical facility. Read more...
January 27, 2012
Kentucky Panel Passes Pro-Life Bills
A state Senate committee has approved pro-life bills on abortion and ultrasound that would help reduce abortions in the state. They are expected to be approved in the Senate but the state House defeated similar bills last year. Senate Bill 102 would require women seeking abortions to get "face-to-face" counseling 24 hours in advance of the procedure. Current law allows such information to be provided by telephone. Senate Bill 103 would require physicians to perform an ultrasound before an abortion and attempt to show the image of the fetus to the pregnant woman although she could refuse to look at it. The bill would impose a fine of as much as $250,000 on a medical provider who violates the requirement. Read more...
Ultrasound Bill Stirs Virginia Abortion Debate
A Senate committee that was overhauled after last year's elections endorsed legislation Thursday that would require pregnant women to undergo ultrasound imaging before having an abortion, a breakthrough for abortion opponents who have advocated for the requirement. On a party-line vote of 8-7, the Republican-controlled Senate Education and Health Committee advanced the legislation to the full Senate. A similar bill is pending in the House of Delegates. Read more...
January 26, 2012
Pro-Death Advocates Decry Kansas Proposal
Abortion rights advocates say an anti-abortion proposal pending in the Kansas House would limit women's access to birth control. But a key supporter of the measure says those worries are exaggerated. Rep. Steve Brunk, a Bel Aire Republican, says it only ensures that medical professionals who oppose abortion can't be demoted or fired for refusing to participate in terminating pregnancies, including with medication. The "conscience protection" bill has been introduced and expands a law preventing medical personnel from being forced to participate in abortions. Read more...
Florida Committee Okays 3 Pro-Life Bills
In an emotionally charged two-and-a-half-hour debate, Republican lawmakers signed off on a trio of abortion bills that backers say would stop the "killing" of children and opponents counter would drastically interfere with a woman's access to good health care. "We need to protect these unborn children from harm," said Rep. Mike Horner, R-Kissimmee, of the three bills that would make it more difficult for women to go through with an abortion. Read more...
