Seven states battle abortion rights

The 1973 Roe vs. Wade decision that gave women the option to end a pregnancy linked it to the right to privacy and said that states could not take away a right granted by the Constitution. But President Bush has appointed two seemingly anti-abortion justices, and Supreme Court observers have said the court is one or two votes from reversing the decision, which would allow states to set their own guidelines governing abortion. Georgia, Texas, Virginia, Oklahoma, Indiana and South Carolina have pending legislature that could dismantle women's right to an abortion, and in South Dakota, an abortion law is being reheard. Georgia Georgia is challenging Roe vs. Wade with a bill in its state legislature that would ban all abortions, even those done to save a woman's life, declaring that "a fetus is a person ... under the laws of this state from the moment of conception." Dionne Vann, Executive Director of the National Abortion Rights and Action League Pro-Choice Georgia, said, "This action shows total disregard to women's right to private decisions made between her and her doctor" and that if doctors help women abort pregnancies the ban sends them "to prison for life, or worse, sentences them to death." Texas If Roe is overturned, "there will be no abortions in Texas," Sen. Dan Patrick (R-Houston), told reporters before filing a bill on Jan. 10, which would make it state policy that life begins at conception and would ban all surgical and medical abortions, unless a woman's life is in danger. Anyone performing an illegal abortion would be committing a second-degree felony, punishable by up to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000. "There are no exceptions for the health of the woman, or for rape or incest," said Laurie Felker Jones, who heads Pro-Choice Texas. "They clearly go way too far." Virginia Abortion rights advocates are gearing up to fight over a dozen bills before the General Assembly this year, including Robert Marshall's (R-Prince William) bill, which proposes that Virginia revert to pre-1973 abortion laws if the Supreme Court overturns Roe vs. Wade, under which all abortions would be illegal unless the life of the woman or fetus is endangered. Oklahoma Rep. Mike Reynolds (R-Oklahoma City) filed a bill to reinstate pre-1973 anti-abortion laws, should the Supreme Court overturn Roe vs. Wade. Linda Meek, executive administrator of Reproductive Services Inc. of Tulsa said that if Roe vs. Wade were overturned and this bill were to pass, she foresees a return to the days when women went out of state for abortions, or women who did not have money resorted to "back-alley abortions." Other lawmakers already have filed several anti-abortion bills to build on restrictions approved by legislators in recent years, including Sen. Brian Crain (R), who expects to file a measure this week to prohibit insurance companies from covering state employees' abortion procedures. Indiana Under a pair of Senate bills filed on Jan. 11, Indiana doctors would be required to give written notice to women seeking an abortion that life begins at conception and tell them that a fetus could feel pain. Betty Cockrum, president and chief executive officer of Planned Parenthood of Indiana, said the bills would intrude on the patient-doctor relationship and impose the religious beliefs of others on pregnant women. Cockrum said House committee testimony by physicians last year made it clear that there is "total uncertainty" about whether a fetus can feel pain and that science shows life does not begin with conception, but when a fertilized egg attaches to a woman's uterine wall. South Carolina A bill sponsored by Kevin Bryant (R-Anderson) would require an ultrasound to be shown to patients before all abortions, as well as mandating that a patient or her guardian get information about fetal development and abortion alternatives. On top of counseling and a mandatory delay, Lindsay Siler, public affairs coordinator for Planned Parenthood said, "It's another intimidation tactic aimed at restricting access." Another measure would declare a fetus a person in the case of a civil action, which Siler said sets the stage for the rights of the fetus to supersede those of the pregnant woman. South Dakota The 8th US Circuit Court of Appeals said Jan. 9 that they will rehear arguments regarding a 2005 South Dakota law that would require doctors to give women seeking abortions a written document, including the statement that "the abortion will terminate the life of a whole, separate, unique, living human being." District Judge Karen Schreier said plaintiff Planned Parenthood has a chance of succeeding in its claim that the law violates doctors' free-speech rights and issued a temporary block on enforcing the law. Kate Looby of Planned Parenthood in Sioux Falls, the only clinic that provides abortions in South Dakota, said the organization believes the court will decide the law is an unconstitutional attempt by the state to force its ideology on patients and to force doctors to say things they may not believe. South Dakota passed legislation to ban nearly all abortions in March 2006, but 56 percent of voters rejected it.