ND lawmakers introduce abortion legislation to rework existing laws

BISMARCK, N.D. (KFYR) – Lawmakers in Bismarck are introducing laws that may rework the state’s abortion legal guidelines.

In brief, the proposed invoice shores up the language within the state’s current abortion legal guidelines.

First, it clarifies that docs who carry out an abortion aren’t accountable for offering the burden of proof. Because the regulation stands, docs want to supply what’s referred to as an affirmative protection after they carry out an abortion within the case of rape or incest. This invoice would place that burden on the state.

The invoice would additionally explicitly permit docs to deal with ectopic pregnancies, the place an egg is fertilized exterior of the uterus, which might be harmful and require medicine or surgical procedure to terminate. The present regulation is unclear on that.

“Confusion may exist as to which regulation can be violated when a couple of statute encompasses the prohibited act. So, finally the query introduced by Senate Invoice 2150 is just not about whether or not an individual helps or opposes abortion bans, it’s about whether or not we would like a clearer or higher statute,” mentioned Christopher Dodson with the North Dakota Catholic Convention.

Monday, the committee heard from quite a lot of gynecologists who spoke in favor of the invoice, not essentially as a result of they held a pro-life stance, however fairly as a result of it could permit them to apply with out the worry of being prosecuted for saving a affected person’s life.

This isn’t the one piece of abortion-related laws on the docket for this Legislative session. By our rely, at the very least 5 different payments could be thought-about “pro-life” payments. These embody tax credit for individuals who undertake, recognizing January 22 of yearly as “Proper-to-Life” day in North Dakota, and criminalizing “compelled or coerced abortions,” amongst others.

Copyright 2023 KFYR. All rights reserved.