News

WASHINGTON, D.C., April 25, 2012, (LifeSiteNews.com) – State legislatures nationwide have kept pro-life laws moving forward in the last week.

Arizona
The Arizona state senate has passed a measure to defund Planned Parenthood on Tuesday. A similar law in neighboring Texas, signed by Governor Rick Perry, has the Lone Star State mired in a legal war with the Obama administration.

Ohio
An amendment that would have essentially defunded Planned Parenthood in Ohio was stripped out of the final budget. The measure would have placed the abortion provider at the end of the line for state family planning dollars. Ohio Right to Life president Mike Gonidakis vowed, “This is not the last you will hear from Ohio Right to Life and the pro-life people of Ohio. If further vetting is what this amendment needs, we expect hearings on House Bill 298 to begin next week.” The final budget now goes to Governor John Kascich, who was uninjured after being involved in a four-car accident on Tuesday.

Alabama
When state health care exchanges are set up under the health care reform law in 2014, Alabama’s will not include abortion coverage, if the state’s senators have anything to say about it. A near-unanimous bill passed that body on Tuesday, forbidding the state system from covering elective terminations. Only two senators voted against the ban.

Mississippi
The lieutenant governor of Mississippi is blocking the nomination of a doctor associated with the state’s only abortion clinic to the state Board of Health. Tate Reeves has said, through a spokesperson, that Carl Reddix’s role in the facility raised his “concerns.” Reddix does not perform abortions but has admitting privileges and refers victims of botched abortions to local hospitals.Reddix was nominated by former governor and onetime chair of the Republican National Committee Haley Barbour, who considered entering the presidential race last year. Current Governor Phil Bryant has said he is prepared to make a new nomination. The Jackson Women’s Health Organization is the state’s only abortion clinic. Bryant signed a bill earlier this month requiring all abortionists in the state to be ob-gyns who have such privileges. The Jackson Women’s Health Organization is the state’s only abortion clinic.

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Tennessee
After Mississippi required that all state abortionists hold hospital admitting privileges, the state of Tennessee has passed a similar requirement. The Tennessee bill holds that abortionists must be able to admit victims of botched abortions to hospitals in their own or a neighboring county. A similar bill has already passed the state House.

South Carolina
As South Carolina compiles its state budget for 2012-13, a state senate committee has restricted taxpayer dollars from funding some abortions. The amendment, which will head to the full senate, would bar the state from paying for abortions unless the mother’s life is at risk. Currently state law also allows financing for abortions in the case of rape or incest.