The Alaska Senate Health and Social Services Committee on Wednesday held a hearing on an antiabortion-rights bill (SB 179), the AP/Sacramento Bee reports (Bohrer, AP/Sacramento Bee, 3/30).
Bill details
The bill, sponsored by state Senate Majority Leader John Coghill (R), would prohibit abortion care if the woman's physician determines the fetus is viable (SB 179 text, accessed 3/31).
The measure includes limited exceptions in cases of incest, sexual assault and when an abortion is deemed "medically necessary." Under the bill, the physician in such cases would be required to help the fetus survive outside of the womb provided the procedure does not put the woman's life or physical health at "serious risk."
The bill also would require the state Office of Children's Services to be notified in cases in which the woman or man involved in the pregnancy is unable or unwilling to provide care.
Hearing details
Planned Parenthood Votes Northwest and Hawaii (PPVNH) in a memo to the state committee questioned the legality of the bill, saying it is "unworkable, unenforceable and likely unconstitutional," the AP/Bee reports.
PPVNH also said the bill's language is confusing. The bill includes references to the removal of a viable fetus from a pregnant woman's womb, but PPVNH clarified that the term for such procedures is "delivery," not "abortion." Further, the group noted that the bill does not include an exception for severe fetal anomalies that are diagnosed later in pregnancy.
Legislative attorney Kate Glover in a separate memo wrote that the measure's definition of a "medically necessary" abortion likely would be deemed unconstitutional. Glover noted that a state court ruling last year struck down the same definition in a state law regarding abortion care and Medicaid funding (AP/Sacramento Bee, 3/30).
