Actions Taken On Women's Health-Related Issues In Colorado, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Nebraska

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• Colorado: Denver City Attorney David Fine on Wednesday announced that antiabortion groups seeking to protest at the Democratic National Convention this summer may apply for permits beginning March 3, the AP/cbs4denver.com reports. The Christian Defense Coalition and the group Survivors of the Abortion Holocaust previously threatened to sue the city because of a delay in granting protest permits, claiming the city was restricting their freedom of speech and preventing them from preparing demonstrations for the convention, scheduled for Aug. 25-28 (Moreno, AP/cbs4denver.com, 2/20). Fine said the city will soon announce the process for groups interested in using some city parks to protest, the Denver Rocky Mountain News reports. It is unclear how many groups plan to apply for permits. If overlaps in use occur, a lottery system will decide which group is allowed to hold the demonstration, Fine said. He added that the city's goal is to streamline the permitting process for the convention demonstrations (Montero, Denver Rocky Mountain News, 2/21). "We believe that it hasn't taken long given the complexity of the issues involved and the number of groups we have been working with," Fine said. Brian Chavez-Ochoa, an attorney representing both antiabortion groups, said, "We're going to give the city the benefit of the doubt at this point," adding that if March 3 "comes and goes, and there is not a permit process in place, and no definite time of when it will be in place, then we will have to reconsider our options in federal court" (AP/cbs4denver.com, 2/20). Christian Defense Coalition Director Patrick Mahoney said the group is "pleased" that the dispute might be resolved (Denver Rocky Mountain News, 2/21). He said groups have been waiting since Nov. 1, 2007, to hear about the new permit process. Events planned for the convention include prayer vigils and rallies, he said (AP/cbs4denver.com, 2/20).
  
  
• Kentucky: The House Wednesday voted 56-37 to approve a bill (HB 396) that would require girls in public and private middle schools to receive a human papillomavirus vaccination, the Louisville Courier-Journal reports. Under the bill, parental consent for immunization against HPV can be withheld for any reason and will not require a written sworn statement from a parent or guardian. Supporters of the measure said it would save lives by preventing cases of cervical cancer. Some opponents said the decision about whether girls should receive HPV vaccines should be up to parents, and other opponents expressed concern about the vaccine's cost. According to the Courier-Journal, most insurance plans cover the $360 cost for the three-shot series, and the bill would cover the vaccination cost for low income, uninsured and underinsured girls. The House voted 59-34 to reject an amendment proposed by Rep. Tim Moore (R) that would have required girls being vaccinated to have a pregnancy test before receiving the vaccine and prohibit immunization if the test was positive. The bill now heads to the Senate, where a similar measure died in committee last year (Ungar/Yetter, Louisville Courier-Journal, 2/21).
  
  
• Massachusetts: Attorney General Martha Coakley (D) on Wednesday filed a brief in federal court that says a state law establishing a 35-foot buffer zone around clinics does not violate abortion protesters' free-speech rights, the Boston Globe reports (Woolhouse, Boston Globe, 2/21). The law, which was signed by Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick (D) in November 2007, expanded abortion clinic buffer zones from 18 feet to 35 feet. The previous law, enacted in 2000, said protesters could not go within six feet of a person in an 18-foot zone outside a clinic entrance. The law does not apply to hospitals. Several abortion-rights opponents recently filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Boston claiming that the expanded zone violates their free speech rights. The suit also seeks a preliminary injunction barring enforcement of the law (Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 1/23). In the brief, Coakley said the law "does not ban any expressive activity, but instead 'merely regulates the places where communications may occur' during clinic business hours." The "suggestion that under the act, 'leafleting and solicitation (are) completely banned from public places' is incorrect," the brief said, adding that the plaintiffs in the suit and "everyone else may continue to hold signs, pray, sing, chant, leaflet, converse and engage in any other kind of lawful speech so long as they do so from outside any buffer zone." Coakley was unavailable for comment on Wednesday, the Globe reports. Michael DePrimo, a Connecticut-based attorney representing the plaintiffs, said the buffer zone is "unprecedented," adding that he is "confident" it will be ruled unconstitutional. Angus McQuilken, vice president of public affairs for the Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts, said the buffer zone is "more than reasonable" and puts the safety of patients first (Boston Globe, 2/21).
  
  
• Nebraska: The Judiciary Committee on Wednesday approved an amended version (AM 1884) of a bill (LB 606) that would restrict the use of state funds or facilities to destroy human embryos for the purposes of research, or create embryos using somatic cell nuclear transfer, the Omaha World-Herald reports (Ruggles/Stoddard, Omaha World-Herald, 2/21). Somatic cell nuclear transfer, which some opponents consider a type of human cloning, is conducted by inserting the genetic material from a patient's cell -- usually a skin cell -- into an unfertilized egg from another person. The patient's genetic material incorporates into the egg and causes it to develop into an embryo that is a genetic match to the skin cell patient. The bill would create an advisory committee composed of the deans of Nebraska medical schools and two scientists from outside the state. The committee would be able to award grants for nonembryonic stem cell research (Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 2/12). The Judiciary Committee on Wednesday removed language from the bill that would specifically prohibit reproductive cloning. Sen. Steve Lathrop said the amendment reflects a compromise between abortion-rights opponents and supporters of embryonic stem cell research. Lathrop said both groups agreed not to pursue further legislation governing embryonic stem cell research under the conditions that there are no attempts at private-sector research involving somatic cell nuclear transfer, that advancements in cloning do not raise new ethical dilemmas and that there are no violations of the public-sector ban on cloning (Ross, AP/Yankton Daily Press & Dakotan, 2/21). The bill now goes to the floor of the Legislature for consideration, the World-Herald reports (Omaha World-Herald, 2/21).