LIFE DIGEST: Austin’s new sign law still wrong, centers say
- Feb 7, 2012 -
The Austin, Texas, City Council repealed an ordinance that pregnancy help centers had challenged in court as a violation of their freedom of speech and religion, but it approved another one the pro-life organizations protested.
In 2010, the council approved a measure that requires pro-life pregnancy centers to display signs saying they do not provide abortions or contraceptives or make referrals for those services. The ordinance did not require abortion clinics to display signs indicating what services they do not provide.
Also in this edition: Virginia Senate OKs bill requiring ultrasound before abortion, Taiwan crackdown on sex-selection abortions works, and European council says euthanasia, assisted suicide should be banned.
The council repealed the law Jan. 26, citing federal court rulings against similar ordinances in other cities. It then voted 6-0 to require signs that no longer use the words “abortion” and “birth control” but indicate if the centers provide medical services at the direction of a licensed health care professional, according to The Austin American-Statesman.
Lawyers for the four pregnancy centers affected by the ordinance said they will amend their lawsuit and proceed with it. They also said they would ask a federal judge to block enforcement of the new law.
“Pregnancy centers, which offer real help and hope to women, shouldn’t be punished by political allies of the abortion industry,” said Matt Bowman, legal counsel of the Alliance Defense Fund. “The city should recognize that using a sleight-of-hand to force pro-life centers to post the message the city wants does not solve the First Amendment problems with the law.”
Federal judges have blocked enforcement of laws similar to the original Austin ordinance in New York City; Baltimore, Md., and Montgomery County, Md.
Many pro-life pregnancy centers offer such free services as pregnancy tests, ultrasound exams, prenatal care, child birth classes, testing for sexually transmitted diseases, abstinence education, post-abortion counseling and material assistance. Abortion clinics typically do not provide many of these services.
Virginia Senate OKs bill requiring ultrasound before abortion
The Virginia Senate has passed legislation requiring women to have ultrasounds before undergoing abortions.
The Senate’s 21-18 vote Feb. 1 effectively guarantees the bill will be enacted. The Republican-controlled House of Delegates likely will approve the measure quickly, and Gov. Bob McDonnell has said he would sign it into law, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reported.
Pro-life advocates received a setback in a Senate committee the same day, when a 7-7 vote blocked progress of a ban on abortions after 20 weeks based on evidence unborn children feel pain by that point in the pregnancy.
Under the ultrasound proposal, a woman is not required to view the image of her unborn baby.
The narrow Senate majority on the ultrasound measure consisted of 19 Republicans and two Democrats. The parties are equally divided – 20-20 — in the Senate.
Victoria Cobb, president of the Family Foundation of Virginia, said her organization is “very pleased that the state Senate has recognized the need to update our existing informed-consent practice with the most advanced medical technology available, including an ultrasound,” the Times-Dispatch reported.
The pain-capable abortion ban failed Feb. 2 in the Senate Education and Health Committee when a Republican member abstained.
In the House, a committee approved a prohibition on state funding for a low-income woman whose unborn child is diagnosed to have “gross and totally incapacitating physical deformity or mental deficiency,” according to the Times-Dispatch.
Taiwan crackdown on sex-selection abortions works
Taiwan’s crackdown on sex-selection abortions protected about 1,000 female unborn babies from death last year.
Government statistics showed 108 male babies were born for every 100 females in 2011, Taiwan health officials said Jan. 31, according to the Agence-France Presse (AFP) news service. In 2010, the male-female birth ratio was 109-100. The worldwide sex ratio typically is 104-106 males to 100 females.
“That’s the same as 993 female [babies] saved last year,” said Lee Tsui-feng of Taiwan’s Bureau of the Health Promotion, of the decline in the ratio. “The strict measures have paid off.”
The Asian country’s health officials instituted stronger checks last year on sex-selection abortions, although the practice has never been legal. Sex-selection abortion has become common because of a historic desire in the culture for male children, according to AFP.
European council says euthanasia, assisted suicide should be banned
Euthanasia and assisted suicide should be outlawed in every European country, the Council of Europe has decided.
Those acts “must always be prohibited,” said the council, which seeks to harmonize human rights laws among 47 member countries, The Telegraph reported Jan. 28. Belgium, The Netherlands and Switzerland permit physician-assisted suicide.
The decision came in a 34-16 council vote on an amendment to a non-binding resolution. The council’s decision will serve as an important impediment to assisted dying promoters in Britain, The Telegraph said.
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