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NRL News
Pro-Lifers Continue on the Move in State Legislatures
When you call Mary Spaulding Balch, you can rest assured no conversation will ever go more than five minutes without Mary ever so politely asking if she could place you on hold. And this is perfectly understandable, since this time of the year NRLC’s state legislative director is talking to states from Maine to Arizona, Alaska to Florida. When I interviewed her in early May, I asked her to characterize how things went in the state legislatures. “A surprisingly good year,” she said. “Lots of obstacles to overcome but, all in all, we’re pretty pleased.” Unquestionably, the single most substantive and encouraging triumph took place in Oklahoma. “Tony Lauinger, executive director of Oklahomans for Life, deserves enormous credit for turning the state in a solidly pro-life direction,” Mary told NRL News. “And he’s only just getting started.” (See story, page 1.) Lauinger helped put together a bi-partisan coalition that quickly overrode a veto by Gov. Brad Henry of very comprehensive legislation. The law touches on everything from abortion and chemical abortions to end-of-life issues. Reflecting one of the most important new phases of the battle for life, the law requires a medical worker performing an ultrasound on a woman seeking an abortion to display the image of the unborn child and explain the ultrasound. The mother is free to avert her eyes, if she chooses. Balch was obviously not pleased when pro-lifers were unsuccessful in overturning vetoes by pro-abortion governors in Arizona (Democrat Janet Napolitano) and Kansas (Democrat Kathleen Sebelius). The two executives wielded their pens to veto legislation to ban partial-birth abortions in Arizona and to offer comprehensive protection to women in Kansas. The Comprehensive Abortion Reform Act (CARA) passed the Kansas House by a vote of 84–40 and the Kansas Senate by a vote of 25–13, before being vetoed by Sebelius. CARA included a number of provisions that were designed to strengthen enforcement of existing late-term abortion laws. In addition the bill sought to protect minors who are seeking abortions from coercion and expand the relevant information that must be provided to women who are considering abortion. But there were other pro-life gains. In Idaho, the state’s women’s right to know law is now on the web site as well, making the information available to today’s technology-savvy young women. Additionally, an anti-coercion measure passed. It is now a punishable offense to force, threaten, or inflict bodily harm on women to coerce them into having unwanted abortions. More specifically, if a woman tells an abortionist the decision to abort is not hers, he must stop. Oklahoma is not the only state to add an ultrasound measure to the books this session. Ohio and South Dakota also enacted such a law which is really intended to promote informed consent. Altogether 12 states have ultrasound legislation mandating that women be given the option of seeing an ultrasound. South Carolina passed ultrasound legislation. The bill is on the governor’s desk as this article is being written. “This is our last chance to help women who are about to have abortions to rethink her decision,” Balch said. “We know when women see ultrasounds, they often change their minds—which is why the Abortion Lobby is so desperate to keep women in the dark.” In addition, Nebraska Right to Life “did a terrific job in a very difficult situation,” Balch said. Pro-life forces were successful in removing harmful language from LB 606 so that it bans the use of public funds to create human embryos for the purpose of destroying them for research—”clone and kill”— and also allows for the funding of non-embryonic stem cell research. “Nebraska Right to Life Executive Director Julie Schmit-Albin is to be highly commended,” Balch said. |