An Encouraging Update on State
Legislation
By Dave Andrusko
Please send your comments to
daveandrusko@gmail.com
It would be difficult not to be excited when
(for starters) Oklahoma has passed a
comprehensive abortion-reporting bill which
also prohibits sex-selection abortions and
Nebraska now has arguably the strongest,
most effective ultrasound measure in the
nation. But NRLC State Legislative Director
Mary Spaulding Balch took special pleasure
in their passage.
"There is a reason pro-abortionists loathe
this kind of legislation," she said.
"Everything they do is intended to cloak the
humanity of the unborn child and mislead the
child's mother about what she is doing and
to whom." These laws "open a window on the
truth and a window on the womb."
Oklahoma also passed a ban on all cloning of
human embryos, whether for "research" or
reproductive purposes.
Among the provisions of Oklahoma's HB 1595
is a ban on sex-selection abortion This on
top of meaningful reporting requirements.
"There are some other states that have very
helpful recording requirements, but
Oklahoma's is probably the most
comprehensive," Balch said. "For example, we
will know whether Oklahoma's already
existing informed consent provisions are
being enforced and what the grounds are when
a judge gives a girl a bypass" (which means
she does not have to inform her parent (or
parents) of her intentions).
Likewise in Nebraska, Balch said. The
unofficial title given to the new law-- "The
Mother's Right to
See Her Unborn Child Ultrasound bill"--says
it all. Under the Nebraska law abortionists
who use ultrasound (virtually all do) would
be required to position the screen in a way
that the mother can easily see it and inform
her that she can see the image of her unborn
child, if she so chooses.
"Many young girls
and women are ambivalent when they come to
an abortion clinic," Balch said. "If they
have a realistic opportunity to see the
humanity of their unborn child, many will
chose to carry their baby to term."
Many states have
completed their legislative sessions for the
year. Among other victories was a state ban
on partial-birth abortion passed by
Arkansas, modeled on the federal law which
was upheld by the Supreme Court.
North Dakota
passed an anti-coercion law that requires
abortion clinics to post a sign telling
women that they cannot be forced into having
an abortion and explaining where she can get
help. Georgia passed an embryo adoption
bill. This will increase the likelihood that
a woman who may be contemplating freezing an
embryo she has not had implanted knows that
there are loving couples who would adopt the
embryo and bring him or her to term.
Balch said that
New York is on
the verge of passing a bill which contain
protective provisions that will
significantly ensure the right of New
Yorkers to be free from involuntary denial
of life-sustaining medical treatment, food
and fluids. If a patient has chosen
life-sustaining treatment that is not
physiologically futile--but a health care
provider is unwilling to provide it--the law
would require that the patient must be
allowed to transfer to a willing provider
and be given the treatment until the
transfer can be effectuated.
