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NRL News
2007
Legislative Session Brings Solid Pro-Life Gains The momentum that began to be seen in state legislatures in March continued through the end of the session, as several states enacted laws that will protect the lives of unborn babies and their mothers. “We saw some solid victories toward the end of the legislative year,” Mary Spaulding Balch, NRLC director of state legislation, told NRL News. The most sweeping legislation passed in Oklahoma and was enacted May 23 after Gov. Brad Henry allowed it to become law without his signature, declining to veto or sign the bill. The omnibus bill includes several pro-life provisions. With certain exceptions for medical emergencies and forcible rape that has been reported to authorities, the law tightens abortion reporting requirements, requires positive proof of age before an abortion on a minor and proof of identification of the parent or guardian who consented to the abortion, gets the government out of the abortion business by banning state agencies and employees from performing or assisting in abortions, and requires insurance policies to cover abortion only by an optional rider to be paid by an additional premium. “The Oklahoma bill does things no other state has done in parental involvement and reporting requirements,” Balch said. “It is an excellent piece of legislation that will go a long way in saving lives.” Unborn victims of violence are now protected by law in Kansas. After Gov. Kathleen Sebelius signed “Alexa’s Law” May 9, Kansas now considers unborn babies at any stage of development who are harmed or killed during a crime to be separate victims. The law was named after Alexa, the unborn daughter of 14-year-old Chelsea Brooks. Brooks and her baby were killed in 2006 in an alleged murder-for-hire plot allegedly arranged by Alexa’s adult father, who feared being charged with statutory rape, according to the Wichita Eagle. The father and two others have been charged only with Chelsea’s death. “Kansans for Life has consistently educated for, and testified on behalf of, unborn victim protection laws,” said Kathy Ostrowski, state legislative director, “because they carve out a little justice for Kansans who have lost a valued family member and then had to endure the legal insult that there was no second victim to prosecute for.” Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue signed two pro-life bills in late May, an ultrasound bill May 23 and an adult stem cell research bill May 24. A woman seeking abortion will now hear her unborn baby’s heartbeat and be given the option of viewing an ultrasound image of the child. In addition, the Saving the Cure Act calls for umbilical cord blood and postnatal tissue to be collected from all Georgia mothers to facilitate medical research and treatment using adult stem cells. It “will ensure that Georgia becomes a leading state in ethical stem cell research that does not kill a human embryo,” Georgia Right to Life said in a press release. “The bill also ensures that that taxpayer funding will be committed to ethical stem cell research that does not kill human embryos.” Pro-lifers are already preparing for the next state legislative sessions, inspired by the successes in 2007 and the Supreme Court decision upholding the federal Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act. The Court gave hope that future abortion laws will be considered on their merits, rather than automatically struck down. “With the Supreme Court’s decision in Gonzales as a new guideline, state legislation has a bright future,” Balch said. “States are gearing up to pass substantial legislation next year that will save even more lives.” |