WASHINGTON, D.C., February 25, 2013, (LifeSiteNews.com) – As 2013 moves forward, the issues of abortion, same-sex “marriage,” and the rights of parents to ensure that public schools do not violate their moral principles have spread to statehouses across the nation.
Kansas
An unrelated lesbian has the same custodial rights over her former partner's children as their biological mother, the Kansas Supreme Court has ruled. The state high court ruled last Friday that Marci Frazier enjoyed the same rights over two children that her former partner, Kelly Goudschaal, conceived via artificial insemination as the biological mother herself. The justices ruled that they were upholding Frazier's relationship with Goudschaal's children in the name of “the benefits to the children,” specifically “in maintaining the inherent benefits of having two parents.” You may read the ruling here.
Colorado
Legislators in Colorado voted to make it more difficult for parents to shield their children from public school courses that teach the use of contraceptives for sex outside marriage. Parents must now opt out of sex education courses that teach “safe sex.” Previously, they had to approve their children's attendance in advance. The House voted on Friday to make it harder for public school children to avoid a message that normalizes premarital sex by a party-line vote of 38-27. The bill now goes to the state senate.
Alaska
In 2001, the Alaska Supreme Court ruled that the state's Medicaid program had to pay for abortions that were “medically necessary” – but it never defined that term. A new bill, drawing on expert medical testimony, seeks to change that. State Leader John Coghill, R-North Pole, said the bill is necessary to assure the state does not pay for elective abortions that an unscrupulous doctor has fraudulently called “medically necessary.” Treasure Mackley, the political and organizing director at Planned Parenthood Votes Northwest, said Coghill is simply trying to deny Alaskan women “the medical care they need. You may read the full text of Senate Bill 49 here.
Illinois
Governor Pat Quinn has acknowledged a bill to redefine marriage lacks the 60 votes necessary to pass the state House of Representatives. Quinn, a Catholic, supports the measure, but House freshmen, swept in by the Tea Party landslide in 2010, largely oppose the bill. The governor promises to personally lobby to change their minds. Senate Bill 10 goes before the House Executive Committee on Tuesday.
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Indiana
The Indiana Senate has stripped a provision requiring abortion facilities that prescribe abortifacients to perform a second ultrasound to assure the unborn child's body has been completely expelled from the mother's body. Instead, they unanimously allowed the doctor to use another method of follow-up after a chemical abortion. An ultrasound will still be required before prescribing the drugs. Planned Parenthood's facility in Lafayette has complained that an ultrasound requirement could force it to close.
New Hampshire
The New Hampshire House Judiciary Committee may vote Wednesday on a bill to require a 24-hour waiting period before a woman may have an abortion. The measure would require that women considering abortion be given information on alternatives available to the procedure as well as the risks it provides.
South Dakota
South Dakota lawmakers are committed to allowing abortion-minded women to receive as much information as possible before making their life-changing, and life-ending, decision. The state already has a 72 hour waiting period; however, the new bill would exclude weekends and holidays from that time frame. The House passed the bill 56-13. It now moves to the Senate State Affairs Committee in Pierre. Republican State Senator Phyllis Heineman said women who “wish to have more time or more chances to visit with councilors” could not do so on days the business was closed. But Democratic State Representative Marc Feinstein said the extension “doesn't make a lot of sense.”
Wisconsin
Pro-Life Wisconsin is holdings its 2013 Day at the Capitol next Thursday, March 7. Gualberto Garcia Jones of Personhood USA will speak on the importance of personhood legislation, and legislative leaders will be on hand. Participants are asked to register by Friday to reserve a place. They may call 262-796-1111.
Find a full listing of LifeSiteNews' coverage of the Ontario government's explicit sex-ed program here.