Ky. Republicans File Petition For State House To Consider Ultrasound Bill

Main Category: Abortion
Also Included In: MRI / PET / Ultrasound
Article Date: 22 Mar 2010 - 0:00 PDT

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Republicans in the Kentucky House are petitioning for the full chamber to vote on an antiabortion-rights bill (SB 38) that a House committee rejected in a 7-7 vote last month, the Lexington Herald-Leader reports. The bill would require abortion providers to perform an ultrasound and show the image to the pregnant woman before performing an abortion.

The GOP-controlled state Senate has approved similar ultrasound bills for the past several years, but the Democrat-controlled House has thwarted a floor vote each time. Twenty-five Republicans have signed Rep. Joe Fischer's (R) petition to call for full House consideration of the bill. Kentucky House Speaker Greg Stumbo (D) is expected to rule Thursday on whether the petition will receive a vote. Stumbo did not indicate how he would rule but noted that no discharge petitions have been granted in his 20-year legislative career. If Stumbo allows the vote, 51 lawmakers would need to vote in favor of the Republicans' motion to bring the bill to the House floor. There are 35 Republicans and 65 Democrats in the chamber. During the past two weeks, Fischer, Floyd and state Rep. Tim Moore (R) have each filed the ultrasound measure as an amendment to various pieces of legislation, including bills to expand children's access to health care and improve child-support collection. State Sen. Julie Denton (R) said the addition of the amendment to a bill (SB 106) she sponsored concerning Medicaid coverage of genetic disorders essentially caused the bill's defeat (Musgrave, Lexington Herald-Leader, 3/18).

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