By Aaron Miller-
Republicans and Democrats are in a stiff war to have their way over abortion rights, as both parties push strongly to establish laws that support their ideologies on abortion.
Republicans are generally anti abortion. They view the sanctity of life as an absolute right in almost all circumstances, one never to be interfered with by politicians or selfish women who have no regard for the life of an unborn baby, and who place their own interests above the life of a fetus.
Republicans traditionally disagree very strongly, and insist on the right for a woman to have a choice over her body, especially with the many potential circumstances under which pregnancy can arise. Abortion has been fiercely debated in the U.S for years, probably even centuries. Former U.S president was strictly against abortion, but President Joe Biden is on the side of women’s rights to have abortions conducted on them at their choosing.
Yesterday (Tuesday), four new proposed abortion restrictions passed the state House on Tuesday in Montana, where GOP gains are pushing prohibitions against the procedure.
The bills comes in the wake of President Joe Biden’s commitment to change course nationally on the issue, in spite of the Supreme Court conservative majority which has emboldened anti-abortion activists. The new president said he would seek to codify the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision — establishing a nationwide right to abortion in federal law to protect it from court challenges.
In Montana, GOP lawmakers are in full swing with their fight against abortion, following the election of a Republican governor after 16 years of pro-abortion governors.
The bill passed is not dissimilar to legislation already passed in other Republican-controlled states — including a ban on abortion in most cases after 20 weeks of gestation; a requirement that health care providers give pregnant women the opportunity to view an ultrasound before performing an abortion; and a requirement that abortion pills be administered in-person rather than through telehealth.
An additional bill would ask voters to approve a requirement to care for fetuses born alive during abortion procedures.
Three of the Montana bills were formerly vetoed by former Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock last session. Current Gov. Greg Gianforte has promised to “defend life,” giving anti-abortion lawmakers and activists hope that the bills would be signed into law.
The bills, which passed the House largely along party lines, go next to the Montana Senate for consideration.
Extreme
Some U.S states have presented extreme bills in Arkansas that would criminalize abortion except to save a pregnant woman’s life. In South Carolina, a newly expanded GOP majority in the state Senate is seeking a ban on abortions after a fetal heartbeat can be detected — usually around six weeks after conception — except for pregnancies caused by rape or incest.
In Kansas last week, Republican state House lawmakers voted in favour of a measure to overturn a 2019 Kansas Supreme Court decision that declared access to abortion a “fundamental” right under the state’s Bill of Rights, sending the bill to a debate in the state Senate.
A bill that would shore up abortion rights statewide was scheduled for its first legislative committee hearing on Monday, in videoconference format as a precaution against the coronavirus.
Twenty-five senators have so far signed on as co-sponsors of the bill.
Meanwhile, Democratic legislators are proactively seeking to repeal New Mexico’s longstanding ban on most abortion procedures.
The Eye Of Media.Com has heard that twenty-five senators have signed on as co-sponsors of the bill, raising optimism there for the abolishing of the law.
The state’s voters last year ousted five conservative-leaning Democratic senators who voted in 2019 against a failed bill to overturn the state’s abortion ban.
In Montana, Democratic lawmakers said the bill banning abortion in most situations after 20 weeks is an attempt by Republicans to politicize abortion. The measure would violate the state constitutional protections “no matter what happens with Roe v. Wade or the new Supreme Court,” said Rep. Robert Farris-Olsen, a Helena Democrat.
Advocates of the bill said the measure would protect fetuses that are capable of feeling pain. But according to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, fetuses are incapable of feeling pain until 24 weeks of gestation.
The bill would ban abortion starting 20 weeks after a pregnant woman’s last menstrual period, except in cases of severe medical risks to the woman.
Three other states have passed bans on abortion after 20 weeks, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a research group that supports abortion rights.