Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Arizona Senate Passes Abortion Restrictions

Posted By on Tue, Jun 23, 2009 at 3:37 PM

The Arizona Senate has passed an omnibus bill packed with all the abortion restrictions that social conservatives have been pushing for years. Howie has the details.

A snippet:

HB 2564 would require a woman to wait at least 24 hours between the time she first sees a doctor and the time she actually can get an abortion.

But that time is more than a cooling-off period. The legislation spells out what has to happen at that first meeting.

The doctor who will do that procedure must discuss the risks and alternatives to the procedure as well as the probable "anatomical and physiological characteristics of the unborn child at the time the abortion is to be performed.''

And the law also would require that someone at the clinic — it would not have to be the doctor — tell the woman that medical assistance benefits may be available if she decides to keep the child, public and private agencies and services are available to assist during pregnancy and after childbirth, and that the father is liable for child support even if he agrees to pay for an abortion.

Given the degree to which the GOP majority is cutting back on social services, it really does seem as if they love kids right up until they're born.