Abortion-notice bill sent to Hutchinson

Measure deals with minors, parents

The Arkansas Senate voted Thursday for legislation that would strengthen parent notification requirements for minors seeking abortions.

In a 24-1 vote, the Senate sent to the governor House Bill 1424 by Rep. Justin Harris, R-West Fork, which adds language to the state's current parental notification law to require more proof that an accompanying adult is a parent. It also changes the rules for a judicial bypass.

A minor who fears she'll be harmed if her parents are informed of the pregnancy can currently ask a judge at any county circuit court to waive the notification requirement. HB1424 would require the minor to get a waiver from a judge in the county where the minor lives.

Critics have suggested that the legislation will make it harder for minors who have been victims of incest and rape by a family member to receive abortions.

In other action, the Joint Budget Committee endorsed Senate Bill 11 to require the Arkansas State Medical Board to pay all legal fees as determined by a federal court in a case challenging the Arkansas Human Heartbeat Protection Act -- a law enacted in 2013 to bar most abortions after 12 weeks of pregnancy if a fetal heartbeat is detected -- and all related cases and appeals challenging the law.

SB11 would grant the Arkansas State Medical Board authority to use up to $200,000 in cash for legal fees determined by a federal court in the case.

Bureau of Legislative Research staff member Wendy Cartwright said the state's costs from the case are $70,130 and it's estimated that they will be between $100,000 and $200,000 based on information from the attorney general's office

In March 2014, U.S. District Judge Susan Webber Wright declared the 12-week ban "clearly unconstitutional." That ruling has been appealed to the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Wright kept intact two other sections of the law that she said could stand on their own. They require a woman seeking an abortion in Arkansas to undergo an abdominal ultrasound to check for a fetal heartbeat and, if a heartbeat is detected, require a doctor to inform the woman in writing and give her a statistical probability for bringing the fetus to term if it isn't aborted. These rulings haven't been appealed.

In a 70-8 vote, the House sent to Gov. Asa Hutchinson SB569 by Sen. Gary Stubblefield, R-Branch, which bars the disbursement of funds by the state to "certain entities," specifically those that perform elective abortions or give abortion referrals.

The bill would not affect funding of a hospital, medical school or university, nor apply to funding available through the Medicaid program. The bill would cut off any funding through grants or other means to Planned Parenthood operators in the state.

Metro on 03/27/2015

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