ND passes two abortion restriction bills
Dave Thompson, Prairie Public
The North Dakota Legislature has passed two abortion restriction bills that could set up a direct challenge to the US Supreme Court’s landmark “Roe v. Wade” decision that legalized abortion.
One has been described as the most restrictive abortion bill in the country. Dubbed the “heartbeat” bill, it would ban abortion when a fetal heartbeat is detected, at about six weeks of pregnancy.
Supporters say the “Roe” decision gives states the right to protect “potential life.” Sen. Spencer Berry (R-Fargo) said the determination of potential life has changed since 1973, the year Roe was decided.
“The impact of 40 years of advancements in medicine and technology cannot be ignored,” Berry told his Senate colleagues. “The images and heartbeat from the womb provide strong and overwhelming evidence of – at the very least – potential life. And we have been instructed by the Supreme Court to protect that very potential.”
The Center for Reproductive Rights says this bill would make North Dakota law the most restrictive in the country. And it believes it would not pass Constitutional muster.
“The Supreme Court has said repeatedly that states simply do not have the power to ban abortions before viability,” said Julie Rikelman, the Center’s litigation director. “This is well before viabilitry.”
The bill passed the Senate 26-17. It had already passed the House, so it goes to Gov. Jack Dalrymple ®. He can sign it, veto it, or let it go into law without his signature.
The second bill sent to Dalrymple would ban abortions for sex selection – or when the fetus has a genetic abnormality.
“Just because someone doesn’t meet someone else’s present day definition of normal – does that justify removal from the womb?” said Sen. Margaret Sitte (R-Bismarck). “How will we define abnormal next year?”
But opponents said the Legislature should not get in the middle of these kinds of decisions.
“This is a medical decision, and a medical decision is made between the mother, the doctor and her God,” said Sen. Carolyn Nelson (D-Fargo).
The bill passed the Senate 27-15.
