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Reuters General/ ­- Article, Qui, 12 de Abril de 2012
CLIPPING INTERNACIONAL (Supreme Court)
Arizona governor signs law banning most
late-term abortions
By David Schwartz PHOENIX | Thu Apr 12, 2012
9:35pm EDT (Reuters) ­- Arizona Republican Governor
Jan Brewer signed into law on Thursday a
controversial bill that bans most abortions after 20
weeks of pregnancy, giving Republicans a win in
ongoing national efforts to impose greater restrictions
on abortion. The measure, which state lawmakers
gave a final nod to on Tuesday, would bar healthcare
professionals from performing abortions after 20
weeks of pregnancy, except in the case of a medical
emergency. Only a small number of these abortions
are performed in the state. "This legislation is
consistent with my strong track record of supporting
common sense measures to protect the health of
women and safeguard our most vulnerable population
­- the unborn," Brewer said in a statement. "Knowing
that abortions become riskier the later they are
performed in pregnancy, it only makes sense to
prohibit these procedures past 20 weeks," she added.
With Brewer's signature, Arizona joins six other states
that have put similar late­-term abortion bans in place in
the past two years based on hotly debated medical
research suggesting that a fetus feels pain starting at
20 weeks of gestation. Georgia lawmakers approved a
similar bill in March that now awaits the signature of
Republican Governor Nathan Deal. Cathi Herrod,
president of the conservative Center for Arizona
Policy, said the passage of the law, was a "momentous
victory for pro­-life advocates." "Abortion not only ends
the life of a preborn child, but it also seriously
endangers the health and safety of women," she said.
'EXTREME ASSAULT ON REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS'
Opponents of Arizona's new law, which will take effect
this summer, said it set a "dangerous new standard for
hostility to women, doctors and reproductive rights."
"To call this an extreme assault on reproductive rights
would be a massive understatement. In its cruelty and
its callous disregard for women's lives, it is downright
appalling," said Nancy Northup, president of the
Center for Reproductive Rights. The U.S. Supreme
Court legalized abortions nationwide in 1973 but
allowed states to ban the procedure after the time
when the fetus could potentially survive outside the
womb, except where a woman's health was at risk.
Late­-term abortions will still be allowed in Arizona in
situations where continuing a pregnancy risks death or
would "create serious risk of substantial and
irreversible impairment of a major bodily function." This
is to be determined by a physician's "good faith clinical
judgment." The law also requires a woman to have an
ultrasound at least 24 hours prior to having an
abortion, instead of the one hour previously mandated
under state law. State officials are also required to
create a website that details such items as the risks of
the procedure and shows pictures of the fetus in
various stages. Bryan Howard, president and CEO at
Planned Parenthood Arizona, said the law was part of
a "harmful" nationwide drive by conservatives to curb
not only abortions but other services affecting women's
health. "We're seeing the hubris overreach in states
across the country, not just in the regulation of abortion
but in mainstream Planned Parenthood services like
birth control and cancer screening," he said. (Editing
Tim Gaynor and Cynthia Johnston; desking by Cynthia
Osterman and Lisa Shumaker)
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