State Abortion Laws, Comprehensive Sex Education Programs On 2009 Legislative Agendas

Main Category: Abortion
Also Included In: Sexual Health / STDs;  Pediatrics / Children's Health;  Women's Health / Gynecology
Article Date: 15 Jan 2009 - 4:00 PDT

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The following summarizes recent news coverage of state legislation related to abortion and sex education programs.

~ New York: Legislation regarding sex education grant money and state abortion laws both are priorities for the Democratic majority in the state Senate, Majority Leader Malcolm Smith (D) said, the Poughkeepsie Journal reports. One bill, called the Healthy Teens Act, would create a grant program under the state health department to fund comprehensive sex education programs. According to the Journal, a separate abortion-related bill would "make it a fundamental right for women to make medical decisions on contraception and pregnancy," which is not currently encoded in state law. The bill "would ensure that health is a primary concern in regulating abortion" and remove all references to abortion from the state penal code, the Journal reports (Matthews, Poughkeepsie Journal, 1/12).

~ Tennessee: State Senate Speaker Ron Ramsey (R-Blountville) said that members of the Republican majority in the state Legislature will quickly approve the first step in the process to place a constitutional amendment before voters that would restrict abortion access, the AP/Jackson Sun reports. The measure would not appear on the ballot until 2014, due to the difficulty of amending the state constitution (Schelzig, AP/Jackson Sun, 1/12).

~ Texas: The Texas Legislature in its upcoming 140-day session is expected to consider a bill requiring physicians to make fetal ultrasound images available to women for viewing before abortion procedures, the AP/Houston Chronicle reports. Additionally, abortion-rights opponents are seeking to make "Choose Life" specialty license plates available (AP/Houston Chronicle, 1/12).

~ Utah: A bill (H.B. 90) sponsored by state Rep. Paul Ray (R) would amend Utah's criminal homicide statute to include illegal abortions and allow physicians who perform such procedures to be charged with criminal homicide, the Salt Lake Tribune reports. The bill would elevate performing an illegal abortion from a third-degree felony to second-degree felony homicide. Under current state law, abortion is considered a criminal offense if the fetus could survive outside of the womb. Abortion is legal in Utah if the life or physical health of the woman is in danger or if the fetus has a condition that would be fatal within 24 hours of birth. The bill does not affect legal abortions and exempts women seeking an abortion from prosecution (Rolly, Salt Lake Tribune, 1/13).

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