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Attempt to Restrict Abortions in Washington, D.C. Fails

August 1, 2012 By 2 Comments

As one restrictive abortion law is upheld this week, one falls by the wayside. Last night, the House of Representatives voted 220 to 154 to pass a bill that would ban all abortions (including in cases of incest, rape, and fetal abnormalities) in Washington, D.C. after 20 weeks; although a majority of representatives approved the measure, the vote fell short of the two-thirds majority needed to pass.

The proposed bill had garnered much national attention in recent months. Its sponsor, Arizona Rep. Trent Franks, did not shy away from a reliance on both hyperbole (he repeatedly called late-term abortions “the greatest human rights atrocity in the United States today”) and unproven medical theories to advance his agenda. Franks based his bill on the controversial concept of “fetal pain,” an issue on which the medical community has reached no firm consensus. The fact that Franks was attempting to regulate the choices of constituents that he did not represent also drew criticism, especially after the District’s actual representative, Democrat Eleanor Holmes Norton, was not allowed to speak at hearings regarding the bill.

While it’s tempting to think that the matter has now been tabled in Congress, the Senate has not yet voted on its companion bill.

Filed Under: Legislative Watch Tagged With: , , , , ,

Another Week, Another Pair of Male Politicians Trying to Regulate Women’s Bodies

July 20, 2012 By 5 Comments

Maybe it’s the unrelenting heat in our nation’s capital, or maybe they just can’t help themselves, but this week Arizona Rep. Trent Franks and Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli sank to new depths in their respective crusades to regulate women’s bodies.

In the District, Franks busied himself with pushing an odious bill that would ban abortions after 20 weeks for D.C. women through yet another House committee; it will now go to the full House of Representatives for a vote. Franks’ oft-stated rationale for the ban is based on the medically unproven idea that fetuses can feel pain after the 20th week of pregnancy. But he didn’t let that fact get in his way this week, claiming that the scientific consensus behind the idea “is almost universal,” and he also didn’t let the idea of common decency to his colleagues interrupt his grandstanding. Franks refused to let the District’s sole representative, Eleanor Holmes Norton, testify at the latest hearing, even though the bill would directly affect her constituents. Perhaps that’s because Norton is staunchly against the measure; her statement on the matter pointed out that the bill is “the first bill ever introduced in Congress that would deny constitutional rights to the citizens of only one jurisdiction in our country. It is also the first bill ever introduced in Congress that would ban abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy.”

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Anti-Choice News: The Good, the Bad, and the Ludicrous

May 28, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Between a massive book deadline and an overseas trip, I feel like I’ve spent the past six weeks totally unaware of any and all current news. Which has been kind of nice, to be honest, but also means that it slipped my notice that the heinous Ohio “heartbeat bill” died a merciful death in the state senate. Turns out that while the state’s house was perfectly fine with allowing abortions to be outlawed as soon as a fetal heartbeat could be detected – which can be as early as six weeks – more rational heads prevailed in the senate, where the measure didn’t even come up for a vote. Interestingly, even a number of anti-choice politicians and activists were against the bill, contending (probably rightly) that it was too extreme to withstand the almost-inevitable court challenge that would follow its passage. While I would have rather seen the bill defeated on the grounds that it’s incredibly restrictive and blatantly places fetal rights above the rights of women, it’s still nice to see that women in Ohio will retain the right to make their own reproductive choices.

In other “hey, remember this crazy anti-choice idea?” news, Arizona Rep. Trent Franks is at it again. Earlier this year, the anti-choice politician decided that, despite not representing the District of Columbia, he was totally entitled to tell women in D.C. what to do with their bodies. Franks introduced the “District of Columbia Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act,” which would ban abortions after 20 weeks in the District, and recently a House subcommittee held hearings on the bill. Franks did not allow Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, who actually does represent D.C. residents, to testify at the hearing, although he did see fit to declare late-term abortions “the greatest human rights atrocity in the United States today.” [Read more...]

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A (Partial) Victory in Indiana

June 28, 2011 By Leave a Comment

A few days ago, I wrote about how Planned Parenthood clinics in Indiana were barred from receiving Medicaid funds for non-abortion services. But now comes good news from the Hoosier State: a U.S. District Judge has ruled in favor of PP, and granted an injunction against the defunding law. Judge Tanya Pratt also put a hold on a fetal-pain provision in the law, which would have required that doctors tell women seeking abortions that fetuses can feel pain at 20 weeks or less gestation. (Republican Rep. Sue Ellspermann, who wrote the original draft of the fetal-pain language, has admitted that she did not consult any doctors, studies, or scientists while preparing the legislation – though she does say that she has seen video of a fetus “shying away” from a needle.)

As the Indianapolis Star reports, Judge Pratt “ruled that the defunding law violates federal Medicaid rules and “will exact a devastating financial toll on PPIN and hinder its ability to continue serving patients’ general health needs.” ” Neither the defunding measure nor the fetal pain provision can be enforced while Planned Parenthood’s legal challenge is being heard; however, a provision that requires physicians to inform patients that life begins at fertilization was upheld.

There have also been “unintended consequences” as a result of the court case. According to the Fond Du Lac Reporter, doctors at two state hospitals stopped offering patients the choice of terminating their pregnancies several weeks ago, including cases where the fetus had no chance of survival and where the woman’s health was at serious risk.

Hopefully, the injunction means that not only will Planned Parenthood clinics remain open, but that women can get the full range of options and care that they deserve.

 

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