Reproductive Rights Prof Blog

DC Approves Marriage Equality, While NY Senate Rejects It

Wash. Post: D.C. approves same-sex marriage; civl rights vs. gay rights, by Tim Craig:

A second vote, scheduled in two weeks, is necessary for the measure to become law.

The D.C. Council voted overwhelmingly Tuesday to legalize same-sex marriage in the District, a key step in a process that could enable gay couples to marry in the nation's capital by the spring. . . .

Wash. Square News: New York says 'no' to gay marriage, by Richa Naik:

The New York State Senate rejected 38-24 yesterday a bill that would have legalized same-sex marriage in New York. All of the Republicans, along with several Democrats, voted against it.

NYU politics professor Christine Harrington was surprised that the Republicans voted as a block.

"It is fairly surprising since northeastern Republicans are seen as being more favorable to individual rights and civil liberties than non-New England Republicans," Harrington said. "I think people really have to look at this issue in terms of religious views determining the scope of civil liberties." . . .

New York Times: New Jersey Should Legalize Marriage for Same-Sex Couples

NY Times Editorial: New Jersey's Marriage Moment:

Doing the right thing — promptly enacting legislation discarding inadequate civil unions in favor of full marriage equality for same-sex couples — requires no gargantuan amount of courage or risk-taking on the part of rank-and-file New Jersey legislators or their leaders...

If the Democratic majorities in New Jersey’s Legislature are unwilling to stand up for a fundamental civil right that a majority of voters would accept, when exactly would they stand up?

Advocates in Maine Fight to Keep Same-Sex Marriage Law

NY Times: Focus of Gay-Marriage Fight Is Maine, by Abby Goodnough:

Supporters of the marriage law, which the Legislature approved in  May, have far more money and ground troops than opponents, who have been led by the Roman Catholic Church. Yet most polls show the two sides neck and neck, suggesting that gay couples here, as in California last year, could lose the right to marry just six months after they gained it.

Although Maine’s population is a tiny fraction of California’s and the battle here has been comparatively low profile, it comes at a crucial point in the same-sex marriage movement. Still reeling from last year’s defeat in California, gay-rights advocates say a defeat here could further a perception that only judges and politicians embrace same-sex marriage.

If Maine’s law is upheld, however, it would be the movement’s first victory at the ballot box; voters in about 30 states have banned same-sex marriage.

Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts and Vermont allow gay couples to marry, but courts and legislatures, not voters, made it possible.

New Oklahoma Law Establishes Public Database of Women Who Had or Sought Abortions

Guardian News: A is for abortion, by Megan Carpentier:

Branding women with a 'scarlet letter' won't reduce abortions. As a global study shows, contraception and education are key

. . . A new law scheduled to take effect in Oklahoma would establish an online, publicly accessible database of information about every woman in the state who sought or had an abortion. While it would not require doctors to report the names and addresses of patients seeking or obtaining a legal medical procedure many conservative lawmakers think should be outlawed, the 37-question survey would (among other things) establish the women's race, age, education level and county of residence.

Women would be required to disclose if they are state employees and what method of insurance, if any, they are using for the procedure. It would require women to specify the number of pregnancies, children, miscarriages and previous abortions they've had. And it even asks for the length of the pregnancy and whether the women were using birth control when they conceived.

The surveys would all be sent to the Oklahoma health department, where state employees would aggregate the data into a searchable, sortable database and make it available to "researchers" online. . . .

The law is being challenged.  See Feminists for Choice: New Oklahoma abortion law being challenged

Arizona Senate Sends Abortion Restrictions To Governor's Desk

The Arizona Republic: Senate OKs abortion restrictions, by Casey Newton:

Arizona, North Carolina Legislatures Take Action on Abortion, Sex Education

Daily Women's Health Policy Report: Arizona, North Carolina Legislatures Take Action on Abortion, Sex Education Measures:

The following summarizes news coverage on women's health-related legislation in Arizona and North Carolina.

~ Arizona: The Arizona Senate Public Safety and Human Services Committee on Wednesday voted 4-3 to approve a bill (S.B. 1206) that would place several restrictions on abortion rights and allow pharmacists or other health care providers to refuse to distribute emergency contraception based on religious or moral objections. . . .

~ North Carolina: The North Carolina Senate Mental Health and Youth Services Committee this week approved a bill (S. 221) that would require all public school systems to offer information on the use of contraceptives to students in grades seven through nine, the AP/Raleigh News & Observer reports. The information would be presented as part of a larger reproductive health education program that would maintain the abstinence-only education curricula currently taught at nearly all of the state's 115 school districts. . . .

Antiabortion Efforts Move to the State Level

Wash. Post: Antiabortion Efforts Move to the State Level, by Peter Slevin:

JACKSON, Miss. -- Twelve women sat gloomily in a windowless conference room as Joseph Booker, M.D., recited the instructions required by the state of Mississippi before he can perform an abortion.

"Try to bear with us," Booker began. "This is something we have to do."

Prenatal benefits may be available, prospective fathers are legally liable for support and a list of adoption agencies can be provided, he said, ticking through a list worn into his memory. He offered the women a packet that included a brochure containing color photos of tiny fetuses inside the womb.

Booker's clinic is the only place left in Mississippi to obtain a legal abortion. Access is no longer simple at a time when the biggest battles over reproductive rights are taking place not in Washington but in Jackson and Bismarck, Little Rock and Helena. In 2008 alone, state legislatures nationwide considered about 400 measures to restrict abortion. . . .

NH Gov. Signs Same-Sex Marriage Bill

Boston Globe: N.H. ties gay-marriage knot, by Eric Moskowitz:

CONCORD - New Hampshire became the fifth state in New England yesterday and the sixth in the country to allow same-sex marriage, as lawmakers approved and the governor signed revised legislation designed to balance personal and religious freedom.

Hang-ups over the wording had threatened to kill the bill multiple times this spring, but in a flurry of activity yesterday, Senate and House lawmakers approved a final version acceptable to Governor John Lynch.

NH Senate Approves Amended Same-Sex Marriage Bill

NY Times: Gay-Marriage Bill Advances in N.H., by Abby Goodnough:

 The New Hampshire Senate approved revisions to a same-sex marriage bill on Wednesday morning, paving the way for an afternoon vote in the less-predictable House of Representatives.

Lawmakers have been working on the bill for months; gay-rights supporters hope the latest changes will ensure it becomes law. The changes further emphasize that by legalizing gay marriage, the state will not impinge on the religious freedom of those who do not believe in it.

Mr. Lynch, a Democrat, has indicated he approves of the latest revisions. If he signs the bill into law, New Hampshire will become the fifth state in New England and the sixth nationally to allow same-sex marriage.

Missouri Senate Passes Abortion Bill

Kansas City Star: Abortion bill passes Senate; House will consider in final days of session, by Jason Noble:

Legislation approved early Thursday morning in the Missouri Senate would require women seeking abortions to hear health warnings and descriptions of the unborn child before undergoing the procedure.

The bill goes further than present law by expanding the information women must hear prior to an abortion and requiring them to hear it in person. It represents a compromise between pro-abortion rights Democrats and anti-abortion lawmakers, who initially proposed criminal penalties for coercing a woman to have an abortion.

The bill now moves to the House, where it has until 6 p.m. Friday to be approved and passed to the governor.

NH Legislature Passes Same-Sex Marriage Bill

CNN: New Hampshire lawmakers approve same-sex marriage:

New Hampshire lawmakers on Wednesday passed a same-sex marriage bill, now headed to Gov. John Lynch.

The state House passed the bill in a 178-167 vote. The Senate last week approved the legislation in a 13-11 vote.

Maine Legalizes Same-Sex Marriage

Reuters: Maine governor signs gay-marriage bill, by Jason Szep:

Maine's governor signed a bill on Wednesday legalizing same-sex marriage, clearing the way for the northeastern U.S. state to become the fifth in the nation to allow same-sex marriage.

"I have read many of the notes and letters sent to my office, and I have weighed my decision carefully," Democratic Governor John Baldacci said in a statement. "I did not come to this decision lightly or in haste."

Gay marriage has made big inroads in the United States this year. In a single week last month, Iowa and Vermont joined Massachusetts and Connecticut in allowing gay couples to legally wed. Legislation is also advancing in New Hampshire.

Gov. Sebelius Vetoes Abortion Legislation

Kansas City Star editorial: The (mis)labeling of Kathleen Sebelius, by Barb Shelly:

This year's anti-abortion bill sent to her by the GOP-dominated Legislature had the same problems as a similar measure that Sebelius vetoed last year.

The only thing different was the red-hot spotlight on Sebelius as she awaits U.S. Senate confirmation as health and human services secretary. With the heat on and anti-abortion groups calling for her head, she did the right thing and vetoed this year's flawed bill.

The proposed legislation presented a clear threat to women's privacy by enabling family members to sue if they believed an abortion provider had violated the law. How could you prove a claim like that without airing the women's situation and medical details in legal documents and possibly open court?

See also: NYT/AP: Kansas: Governor Vetoes Abortion Bill

NY Gov. Paterson To Introduce Same-Sex Marriage Bill

NY Times: Paterson Will Introduce Same-Sex Marriage Bill, by Jeremy W. Peters:

Gov. David A. Paterson on Thursday will announce plans to introduce legislation to legalize same-sex marriage, according to people with knowledge of the governor’s plans.

Mr. Paterson’s move, which he first signaled last week after Vermont became the fourth state to allow gay and lesbian couples to wed, reflects the governor’s desire to press the issue with lawmakers in Albany as other states move ahead with efforts to grant more civil rights to homosexuals....

Mr. Paterson has said in recent days that the State Legislature should move ahead now with the legislation regardless of whether it can muster enough votes. His reasoning, which some gay rights advocates have challenged, is that New York should make a statement that it is committed to treating same-sex couples the same way it treats opposite-sex couples.

Support the NY Reproductive Health Act

Via the NYCLU:

The Reproductive Health Act:

• Guarantees a woman’s right to control her reproductive health;
• Ensures that a woman will be able to have an abortion if her health is endangered;
• Treats the regulation of abortion as an issue of public health and medical practice, rather than as a potential crime; and
• Guarantees everyone the right to use or refuse contraception.

I was honored to be interviewed in this video about the Act, produced by the NYCLU:

VT Legislature Legalizes Same-Sex Marriage

NY Times: Vermont Legislature Makes Same-Sex Marriage Legal, by Abby Goodnough & Anahad O'Connor:

The Vermont Legislature on Tuesday overrode Gov. Jim Douglas’s veto of a bill allowing gay couples to marry, mustering one more vote than needed to preserve the measure.

The step makes Vermont the first state to allow same-sex marriage through legislative action instead of a court ruling. The law goes into effect Sept. 1.

Approval had been expected in the Senate, where the vote was 23 to 5.

But the outcome in the House of Representatives was not clear until the final moments of a long roll call, when Rep. Jeff Young, a Democrat who voted against the bill last week, reversed his position. In the end the vote was 100 to 49, just slightly more than the required two-thirds majority of members present.

ND Senate Rejects Embryonic Personhood Bill, Passes Other Abortion Measures

KFYT-TV: Abortion Bill Defeated, by Amanda Tetlak:

...The bill that establishes that human life begins at conception with the intent to challenge Roe Versus Wade failed by a final vote of 29-16....

Senators voted in favor of a bill that would require abortion clinics to offer a woman an ultrasound of their baby before they have an abortion.

They also passed a bill that would require a clinic to tell a woman that she is killing a human being before having an abortion.

Georgia Bill That Attempts To Grant Embryonic Rights And Increase IVF Oversight Advances

The Atlanta Journal Constitution: Embryo Rights go too far in Senate (Editorial), by Maureen Downey:

Senate Bill 169 —- the Ethical Treatment of Human Embryos Act —- declares: “A living in vitro human embryo is a biological human being who is not the property of any person or entity.” Should that bill become law, it will halt the embryonic stem cell research in Georgia that offers the promise of curing Alzheimer’s and repairing spinal cord injuries.

More immediately, it will so complicate legal questions around frozen embryos that it could drive in vitro fertilization clinics out of the state, forcing desperate Georgia couples to go out of state as well.

The law’s real intent is to outlaw abortion, a goal its proponents acknowledge. At the hearing, testimony in favor of SB 169 came from Georgia Right to Life, the Georgia Baptist Convention and the Georgia Catholic Conference. While stem cell research may potentially save many lives, those opponents argued it deals a death blow to the embryo itself, which they see as an unconscionable trade-off.

UT Senate Passes Abortion Measure Requiring Information About Fetal Anethesia

Salt Lake Tribune: Senate passes bill mandating 'fetal pain' abortion warnings, by Sheena McFarland:

A bill that would require doctors to inform a woman about fetal anesthesia for abortions performed after 20 weeks passed the Senate Thursday.

HB222, sponsored by Rep. Carl Wimmer, R-Herriman, would not require the information to be given during an emergency. Also, the person giving the information could inform the woman of his or her opinion about administering anesthesia.

The bill moves back to the House for a vote on an amendment.

For an analysis of fetal pain legislation, see Harper Jean Tobin, CONFRONTING MISINFORMATION ON ABORTION: INFORMED CONSENT, DEFERENCE, AND FETAL PAIN LAWS, 17 Colum. J. Gender & L. 111 (2008).

Kansas House Passes Abortion Restrictions

Kansas City Star: Kansas House approves two abortion bills, by David Klepper:

Women seeking abortions would get the option of seeing a fetal sonogram under legislation passed Wednesday by the Kansas House.

The House also passed a second bill that would require providers to give state health officials the diagnoses used to justify late-term abortions.