Alabama Governor Signs Unborn Victims Bill Protecting Pregnant Women
MO House Approves Tax Breaks for Crisis Pregnancy Center Donations
CO Gov Vetoes Morning After Pill Bill
Senators Tout Morning After Pill as Abortion Solution
FL Judge Overturns Abortion Protest Buffer Zone Law, Upholds Free Speech
ALABAMA GOVERNOR SIGNS UNBORN VICTIMS BILL PROTECTING PREGNANT WOMEN. Riley signed the bill into law on 17Apr06 that would allow prosecutors to charge criminals with a second crime when they attack a pregnant mother and kill or injure her unborn baby. Riley said the new law is "one of the session's greatest accomplishments." The bill is referred to as the “Brody Bill” in memory of Brody Parker, the unborn son of 23-year-old Brandi Parker of Albertville, who was 8 months pregnant with Brody when she was fatally shot in July, 2005. [LifeNews.com, 22Apr06]
MO HOUSE APPROVES TAX BREAK FOR CRISIS PREGNANCY CENTER DONATIONS, 125-32 vote. This measure that could become a legislative proposal in other states. It allows donors to crisis pregnancy centers to be eligible for state tax breaks as long as the donation go to groups that do not perform abortions or refer women to places that do. The legislation allows a tax write-off of half of the value of a donation made between $100 and $50,000. The state would limit the tax write-offs to a total of $2 million in donations annually. [14Apr06, http://www.lifenews.com/state1589.html, LifeNews.com, Jefferson City, MO; N Valko, RN, 17Apr06]
CO GOV VETOES MORNING AFTER PILL BILL. Gov. Owens vetoed a bill that would allow sales of the morning after pill over the counter without a prescription. He said the measure "strays radically" from accepted medical practice whereby patients consult a doctor before getting prescription drugs. Owens said he was most concerned about teenagers buying the Plan B drugs, which can sometimes cause an abortion. He doesn't want them to purchase the drugs without a parent knowing. [LifeNews.com, 14Apr06]
SENATORS TOUT MORNING AFTER PILL AS THE ABORTION SOLUTION. Though the Senate rejected their legislation once before, Reid (D) and Clinton (D-NY) are back with their bill to promote the morning after pill as a way to reduce the number of abortions. The chairman of the Budget Committee Gregg (R-NH) objected to the amendment, saying it would prevent funding for abstinence-only education programs. [LifeNews.com, 19Apr06]
FL JUDGE OVERTURNS ABORTION PROTEST BUFFER ZONE LAW, UPHOLDS FREE SPEECH. U.S. District Judge Middlebrooks said the law violates free speech rights and he ordered the city not to enforce it the 20 foot zone around the abortion center. He ruled that the city did not prove any problems existed that warranted the buffer zone. "Freedom of speech is rarely an issue when everyone agrees…Perhaps more than at any other place and any other time, in cases such as this, speech guaranteed by the First Amendment must be protected."[Palm Beach Post; LifeNews.com, 19Apr06]