News

By Gudrun Schultz

PHOENIX, Arizona, April 13, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) –Arizona’s governor has vetoed a bill that would require abortionists to tell women that their unborn babies may suffer pain during abortion.

Gov. Janet Napolitano, a Democrat who has vetoed pro-life legislation in the past, said, “The Legislature should not attempt to substitute its judgment for that of trained physicians with respect to professional advice given to patients.”

HB 2254 would have required that a woman at least 20 weeks pregnant be told that her unborn child “has the physical structures necessary to experience pain,” reported the Arizona Daily Star.

Doctors would also have to tell her that after 20 weeks development, an unborn baby retreats from surgical instruments “in a manner that in an infant or an adult would be interpreted as a response to pain,” and the woman would have to be offered the choice to give an anaesthetic drug directly to the child before the abortion procedure.

Tom McClusky, with the pro-life Family Research Council, sent a letter to Governor Napolitano expressing the FRC’s disappointment at her decision.

“It is unconscionable to allow women to undergo an abortion without making them aware of the latest scientific evidence regarding fetal pain,” an excerpt from the letter said.

“Your veto shows a striking lack of concern for the health of women in Arizona. It is disappointing your administration would hide the facts of abortion and keep women uninformed prior to making such a life changing decision.”

The Arizona Senate voted earlier this week in favour of requiring notarization for parental consent forms necessary for a minor to obtain an abortion, in order to prevent a pregnant teenager from forging the paper.

Fetal pain legislation has been introduced in at least 23 US states, with Arkansas, Georgia and Minnesota endorsing the bills.

See related LifeSiteNews coverage:

New Study Finds Babies Cry in the Womb –“Even the Bottom Lip Quivers
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2005/aug/05082606.html

Fetal Pain Bills Advanced in 23 US States
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2006/feb/06020903.html