Abortion

A handfull of abortion-related bills passed the Georgia State Senate Thursday. The measures require doctors to offer women seeking the procedure a look at an image of the fetus and give amnesty to pharmacists who don’t want to give out abortion pills they say go against their beliefs.

The Columbus Ledger-Inquirer has more:

A third bill would create a murder charge any time a fetus is destroyed in an attack on a pregnant woman.

The Unborn Victims of Violence Act expands Georgia’s current law, which says a fetus must have a chance to stay alive outside the womb for its destruction to be considered a murder. The new bill would call for a murder charge at any point in the pregnancy.

Sen. Renee Unterman, R-Buford, said the bill is similar to federal law passed in the wake of the highly publicized 2002 death of Laci Peterson, whose husband was convicted of murdering both her and their unborn son.

“If both of them are killed, then you’re actually killing two people - the mother and the baby,” Unterman said.

That measure passed on a 37-15 vote, with some critics arguing the bill was an abortion-related effort to expand legal protection of fetuses.

“It’s ironic that what you say does not mirror what you do,” said Sen. Regina Thomas, D-Savannah.

The pharmacist bill would allow any pharmacist who files an objection to abortions in writing to refuse to fill a prescription for a drug that terminates pregnancy.

The bill’s scope is limited, since drugs like RU-486 - which induces abortions - may only be handed out by doctors. It would not impact emergency contraceptives, such as the so-called “morning after pill.”

The bill, by Sen. Jim Whitehead, R-Evans, passed 35-15, after senators voted down an amendment by Sen. Steen Miles, D-Decatur, that would have given pharmacists a similar exemption if they object to giving out “sexually enhancing drugs” like Viagra.

A third bill, by Sen. Nancy Schaefer, R-Turnerville, would require doctor who perform abortions to make a sonogram image of the fetus and offer to show the image to the woman seeking the procedure.

Schaefer said she thinks many women who see the sonogram will reconsider their decision to have abortions.

“This sonogram will save lives,” she said of the plan, which passed 35-17.

Senate Democrats, even those who supported some of the measures, complained about the priorities of majority Republicans in the chamber.

“We need to focus on what’s important,” said Sen. George Hooks, D-Americus. “Kids who live on dirt roads can’t get to school when it rains, we’re rock-bottom in the nation in education and we’re up here hollering about abortion.”

Tags: Abortion,, Georgia,, Georgia, Senate,, Pro-Choice,, Pro-Life,, Anti-Abortion,, Abortion, Legislation,, Abortion, photos,, Abortion, pill,, Morning, After, Pill

Republican Gov. Matt Blunt and Missouri’s largest anti-abortion group expressed reservations Thursday about newly proposed legislation seeking to ban most abortions in the state.

KMBC Kansas City has more:

Blunt said he feared an abortion ban could lock the state in a legal battle, which Missouri Right to Life said may not yet be winnable.

Their comments came a day after Sen. Jason Crowell introduced a pair of ballot measures asking voters to prohibit abortions except to save the life of a woman.

Blunt, who has supported other efforts to restrict abortions, told reporters: “I’m not convinced it’s necessary” to pass a general abortion ban.

“I think we need to really focus on the legislation that will reduce the number of abortions in our state — not just set up court battles,” Blunt said.

Crowell has said he hopes his measure — if passed by lawmakers and voters — would result in a legal challenge that reaches the U.S. Supreme Court.

A similar abortion ban recently passed the South Dakota legislature, and Republican Gov. Mike Rounds has said he is inclined to sign it. Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, a Republican, also said he probably would sign an abortion ban bill under consideration in the state House.

Crowell’s pair of proposals — one a constitutional amendment, the other a change in law — would go directly to Missouri’s ballot if passed by the Legislature, without need of the governor’s signature.

“I just consider myself a pro-life legislator … and ending abortions is the most pro-life anyone can be,” Crowell said Thursday. “I think the time is now to end abortions in the state of Missouri.”

But not everyone in Missouri’s anti-abortion movement, which historically has received strong bipartisan support in the Legislature, agrees.

“We’re obviously in favor of a ban on abortion; that is our ultimate goal. But we are concerned about the timing,” said Patty Skain, executive director of Missouri Right to Life.

Skain said she fears there aren’t enough votes on the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn the 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling establishing a right to abortion. If an appeal of a state abortion ban reaches the court too soon, it could backfire by resulting in a ruling that reaffirms abortion rights, she said.

Alison Gee, political director for Planned Parenthood in St. Louis, said Crowell is seeking to impose extreme limitations.

“His proposals would also not take into account at all the health and safety of women,” she said. “The really unconscionable piece about all this is this is the same body trying to make it harder for women to access legal contraception.”

Crowell also is the sponsor of legislation that would prohibit pharmacies from disciplining employees who refuse to fill prescriptions to which they have objections, such as Plan B emergency contraception, also known as the morning-after pill.

Crowell’s abortion legislation would make it a felony to perform an abortion when not saving a women’s life, punishable by a prison sentence of five to 15 years.

When asked about Crowell’s bill, Blunt noted that Missouri law already states that life begins at conception.

“I’m not convinced anything is necessary to add to that,” the governor said.

Tags: Abortion,, Missouri,, Roy, Blunt,, Missouri, Right, To, Live,, Missouri, Abortion,, Pro, Choice

In the wake of similar legislation passing in South Dakota last week, The Mississippi House Public Health Committee has approved a bill that would prohibit most abortions on and Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour (R) has said that he plans to sign the legislation if both houses of the Mississippi Legislature approve it. The bill, which only allows exceptions to save a woman’s life, would tighten Mississippi’s already strict abortion laws that mandate a 24-hour waiting period, counseling, and consent from both parents for a minor.

Jurist has more.