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Thứ Sáu, 22 tháng 3, 2013

North Dakota lawmakers approve measure that could ban abortion

By Dave Thompson

BISMARCK, North Dakota (Reuters) - North Dakota lawmakers on Friday approved a proposed amendment to the state constitution that could make the state the first to define life as beginning at conception, which would effectively outlaw all abortions.

If approved by voters, North Dakota would be the first state in the United States with such a provision in its constitution. Similar measures have been put before voters in several states, including Mississippi, and rejected.

At the same time, the Republican-controlled state House of Representatives also passed more limited measures. The bill would outlaw abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy and require doctors who perform abortions to have surgical privileges at local hospitals.

North Dakota, which has a single abortion clinic in Fargo, is one of several Republican-controlled states seeking to impose stringent abortion limits and challenge the U.S. Supreme Court's 1973 landmark decision in the case of Roe v. Wade legalizing the procedure.

Under that ruling, women have a right to an abortion until the fetus is able to survive on its own outside the womb.

The U.S. constitution's supremacy clause holds that when state and federal laws conflict, federal law wins. But anti-abortion activists have tried to get "personhood" measures defining life as beginning at fertilization onto the ballots of several states in recent election cycles.

The proposed state constitutional amendment would declare that a fertilized human egg is a legal person. Critics of the measure, including Planned Parenthood and many other pro-choice groups, say it would effectively redefine abortion and some forms of birth control as murder.

The measure, dubbed the "personhood" amendment, would not take effect unless voters approved it in the 2014 general election.

"If we can determine that a seed is the definition of a plant, then we can certainly decide that an embryo is a human," said Republican representative Dan Ruby, a supporter of the proposed state constitutional amendment.

Sarah Stoesz, the head of Planned Parenthood Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, called Friday's votes "a shameful day in North Dakota" and predicted they would force the state into "a series of expensive and needless (court) battles."

Cecile Richards, the president of Planned Parenthood Action Fund, called Friday's action "a wake-up call for the country."

The new requirements for abortion providers and the proposed personhood passed by the House Friday had already cleared the Senate. They join two other anti-abortion measures already on Republican Governor Jack Dalrymple's desk, including one that would ban the procedure in most cases once a fetal heartbeat can be detected -- as early as six weeks into pregnancy.

The measure banning abortions after 20 weeks that was passed by the House on Friday was also approved by the Senate. But House lawmakers changed the language of the bill and the Senate will have to approve it again before it can go to the governor.

Dalrymple has not indicated whether he will sign any of the measures into law.

Several states ban most abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy. Arkansas lawmakers earlier in March approved a ban on most abortions after 12 weeks of pregnancy that could take effect in August if it survives expected legal challenges.

The proposal passed by the North Dakota legislature that would ban abortions in most cases after a fetal heartbeat is detected would be the most restrictive in the nation.

Statehouses across the nation approved a record 92 restrictions on abortion in 2011 and another 43 in 2012, which was the second-highest figure on record, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a research group that supports abortion rights.

The North Dakota House did reject a bill on Friday that would have opened up doctors who perform abortions to possible murder charges. That measure failed 49 to 43.

(Reporting by Dave Thompson in Bismarck, North Dakota; Writing by James B. Kelleher; Editing by Greg McCune and Diane Craft)

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Thứ Sáu, 15 tháng 3, 2013

North Dakota Senate approves "heartbeat" abortion ban

(Reuters) - The North Dakota Senate approved a bill on Friday that would ban most abortions in the state after a heartbeat can be detected using standard medical practices, a measure that would be the most restrictive ban in the nation.

Senators voted 26 to 17 to approve the "heartbeat" bill, which could ban most abortions as early as about six weeks into pregnancy. State representatives approved the bill by a wide margin in early February.

Several states ban most abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy and Arkansas lawmakers recently approved a ban on most abortions after 12 weeks of pregnancy that could take effect later in 2013.

(Reporting by David Bailey; Editing by Paul Thomasch)

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Thứ Hai, 11 tháng 3, 2013

South Dakota allows armed teachers, Georgia advances gun-carry rights

(Reuters) - South Dakota school districts could arm teachers under a bill introduced after the Connecticut school shooting rampage and signed into law on Friday, a day after Georgia lawmakers advanced legislation to end a ban on firearms in bars, churches and college classrooms.

The "school sentinels" law signed by South Dakota Governor Dennis Daugaard, a Republican, allows the state's 152 school districts to decide whether they want to arm teachers, other employees, hired security guards or volunteers.

School boards must get approval for their program from local law enforcement officials, and sentinels would have to pass a training program to carry weapons in the schools. District residents could put the issue to a voter referendum.

The law in South Dakota and the proposal in Georgia are two moves by state legislatures that aim to expand gun rights at a time when other state and federal leaders consider new limits following the December killing of 26 children and adults at an elementary school in Connecticut.

In Georgia, the Republican-led state House voted 117-56 on Thursday to advance the measure to restore gun carry rights that have been chipped away over the years, said one sponsor, state Representative John Meadows, a Republican.

The Georgia legislation also would allow licensed gun owners to take weapons inside some unsecured government buildings where they are currently banned, starting on July 1. They would still be outlawed from college dormitories and sporting events, Meadows said on Friday.

The bill does not specify or make any exemptions on the types of weapons and applies to all legal guns, Meadows said.

Democratic state Representative Karla Drenner, who opposed the measure, said it was part of a backlash against a national push to strengthen gun control laws after the Connecticut killings.

Drenner, an instructor at several colleges, said she was concerned about the impact on potential confrontations with angry students, recalling on Friday how a student once screamed at her for mispronouncing his name.

"If he had a gun, the outcome could have been much different," Drenner said.

Asked about Drenner's concerns, Meadows said, "She ought to be armed."

The measure next moves to the Georgia state Senate for consideration. Meadows predicted it would pass, based on the response he said he had received from senators.

Senate President Pro Tem David Shafer, a Republican, said in a statement on Friday the bill would be assigned to a Senate committee next week.

"The Senate passed strong pro-Second Amendment legislation of its own, and I am confident that we will reach agreement with the House," Shafer said.

Any measure advanced from the legislature would go to Republican Governor Nathan Deal for his signature.

On Friday, Deal spokesman Brian Robinson said the governor agreed with language in the proposal that would make it harder for the mentally ill to obtain licenses to carry concealed weapons. He declined to say whether Deal supports other parts of the proposal.

(Editing by Colleen Jenkins,; Jeffrey Benkoe and Dan Grebler)

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Chủ Nhật, 10 tháng 3, 2013

Shocked by Sandy Hook, South Dakota allows teachers to arm themselves

South Dakota on Friday became the first state since the shootings in Newtown, Conn., to allow teachers to carry a gun into the classroom.

The bill, signed by Gov. Dennis Daugaard (R), does not mandate that teachers carry guns. Instead, it allows any school board to create a so-called “school sentinel program” that involves the local county sheriff and establishes a firearms- training course for employees in K-12 schools.

Eighteen states allow firearms on school grounds, according to a tally by NBC News, but such policies are typically reserved for security personnel or volunteers. Only Utah allows teachers – who have concealed-carry permits – to bring guns in the classroom, though other states have considered expanding laws since the Newtown massacre, in which a gunman killed 20 children and six teachers.

Supporters said that the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary showed the need for such a law. Many rural South Dakota schools are located far from emergency personnel, they said. But the rigorous training criteria – which are the same required of law enforcement in the state – might mean few teachers take advantage.

“My guess is this would be, for many people, an investment of time along the lines of getting a pilot’s license, something along that line of difficulty,” says Gabriel Chin, a professor at the University of California at Davis School of Law.

The bill’s main sponsor, state Rep. Scott Craig (R), said he started working with federal law enforcement officials on the measure in early November, and the Connecticut tragedy weeks later “only affirmed the rightness of this bill.”

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School boards are not required to establish the programs, but 5 percent of registered voters in any school district can file a petition to get their local board to vote for the program.

“There are plenty of school districts that let us know that they’ve wanted this, and they’ve wanted this kind of provision for quite some time,” Mr. Craig said.

But some school administrators in the state are against the law, saying they would have preferred safety sessions in the summer.

“I just wish ... everybody would have talked a little bit together before we started passing legislation. I don't believe there will be very many districts, at least to begin with, who are going to jump at putting sentinels in a school until they've done a lot of research,” said Don Kirkegaard, superintendent of the Meade School District, told the Rapid City Journal Friday.

He added that he would not promote the program to teachers or board members in his district.

National teachers organizations have also rejected the idea of arming teachers.

“Under no circumstances do we think guns are appropriate for schools and we continue to reject the notion that when teachers carry guns, schools are safer,” says Janet Bass, a spokeswoman for the American Federation of Teachers in Washington. “We don’t think teachers are going to be packing heat on the holsters during math class. There’s a real risk that a kid could grab a gun.”

• Material from wire services was used in this story.