Lawmakers in several states are proposing bills that would ban a certain abortion procedure, AP/ABC News reports.
According Kelly Baden, director of state advocacy for the Center for Reproductive Rights (CRR), the procedure is used for about 95 percent of abortions provided during the second trimester in the United States. She noted that the procedure is the safest method for second trimester abortion care.
States mull bans
Lawmakers have introduced bans on the procedure in Mississippi (HB 519) and West Virginia (HB 4004, SB 10) (Wagster Pettus/Mattise, AP/ABC News, 2/11). A West Virginia Senate committee advanced an amended version of the ban (Eyre, Charleston Gazette-Mail, 2/11). Under the amended bill, which includes an exception for emergencies, physicians who violate the ban could be required to have their medical licenses reviewed by the board of medicine.
Mary Balch -- director of state legislation for the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC), which provided the legislative language for the Mississippi bill -- said similar measures are being filed in Idaho, Missouri (HB 1714), Minnesota and Nebraska (HB 767). According to CRR spokesperson Jennifer Miller, proposals to ban the procedure are also expected in Kentucky, Michigan (HB 4833, HB 4834), New Hampshire, New Jersey, Rhode Island and South Carolina.
Meanwhile, courts have blocked bans on the procedure from going into effect in Kansas (SB 95) and Oklahoma (HB 1721).
Comments
According to CRR, the bans are unconstitutional because they impede private medical decisions. Baden in a letter to West Virginia lawmakers noted, "Laws like these are an attack on women's health, personal autonomy, and the doctor-patient relationship, and they have the potential to force physicians to subject women seeking safe and legal abortion services in the second trimester to additional invasive and unnecessary procedures."
Separately, West Virginia Del. Stephen Skinner (D), who opposes the West Virginia proposal, said, "Banning a method of a medical procedure is not something the Legislature should get involved in." He added, "We need to let doctors decide what's best for their patient in consultation with the patient and her family. The Legislature getting into the practice of medicine is a dangerous thing."
Diane Derzis -- owner of the Jackson Women's Health Organization, the sole abortion clinic in Mississippi -- called the ban "just another way of attacking abortion." Derzis said the ban, if enacted, would likely be challenged in court (AP/ABC News, 2/11).
