LifeSiteNews.com Life, Family and Culture News

Email: "Bill attacking Crisis Pregnancy Centers in Washington State expected to pass"

Your Email:

Your Name:

Send To Email:

Subject:

Message:
A similar law that was proposed last year was defeated largely due to the unexpected number of pro-lifers who turned out in opposition, said one pro-life leader. BY Christine Dhanagom January 20, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A bill introduced Thursday in the Washington State Legislature would enact new regulations targeted against pro-life Crisis Pregnancy Centers in Washington. The bill, HB 1366, requires Centers to state in their facilities, on their websites, and in all advertisements, that they do not provide abortion services or refer for abortion and exposes the Centers to significant liability concerns. The proposal is one of a series of legislative attacks against Crisis Pregnancy Centers across the country this past year. Similar laws have been enacted in Baltimore, MD, Montgomery County, MD, and Austin, TX, and have been under consideration in New York City, and in the United States Congress. If passed, HB 1366 would become the first such measure to be enacted on a state level. The National Institute of Family and Life Advocates (NIFLA), a public interest law firm that provides assistance to Crisis Pregnancy Centers, is calling the Washington bill “one of the worst we have seen,” because of its unique civil action provisions. Unlike previous measures of its kind, the bill dispenses with the ordinary requirement that a person must suffer damages before bringing a lawsuit against a Crisis Pregnancy Center. The proposed law states that “any person who is aggrieved by a violation” of the law is entitled to bring suit.  According to NIFLA, “an ‘aggrieved’ person is not one who suffers damages but rather is any person offended by the work of [Crisis Pregnancy Centers], i.e. an abortion-rights activist.” Beth Chase, lead consultant for NIFLA, told LifeSiteNews in an interview Thursday that, because of this provision, the bill “puts every pregnancy center in Washington State at risk of harassing lawsuits.” In addition to its disclosure requirements and civil action provisions, the bill requires that a woman be informed if the pregnancy tests that the Center offers are over-the-counter products, and that she be given the opportunity to self-administer the test. It also requires that test results be made immediately available in writing, and establishes additional privacy regulations. “Basically what they’re doing is requiring that one segment of medical clinics must provide a standard of care that is different from any other medical clinic in Washington state,” said Chase. The bill is scheduled for a public hearing this coming Monday, January 24th. The current vote count, according to NIFLA, indicates that the bill is likely to pass. Pro-life citizens of Washington State are being urged to contact their representatives and to attend the hearing on Monday. According to Chase, a similar law that was proposed in the State Legislature last year was defeated largely due to the unexpected number of pro-lifers who turned out in opposition. She said that the turnout countered a perception in the minds of legislators that Crisis Pregnancy Centers are “low grade services that exist without much support from the community.” http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/bill-attacking-crisis-pregnancy-centers-in-washington-state-expected-to-pas/

Please enter the word you see in the image below: