North Dakota Senate passes bill banning most abortions as early as 6 weeks into pregnancy

[fizzgig]

found this in gd

By Associated Press, Updated: Friday, March 15, 1:11 PM

BISMARCK, N.D. — The North Dakota Senate on Friday approved banning abortions as early as six weeks into a pregnancy, sending what would be the most stringent abortion restrictions in the U.S. to the state’s Republican governor for his signature.

The measure would ban most abortions if a fetal heartbeat can be detected, something that can happen as early as six weeks into a pregnancy. The House already approved the measure. Gov. Jack Dalrymple generally opposes abortion but has not said whether he will sign the bill into law.

It’s one of several anti-abortion measures the state Legislature has weighed this session. The vote came with almost no debate in the Senate and after the same chamber approved another measure that would make North Dakota the first to ban abortions based on genetic defects such as Down syndrome.

That measure would also ban abortion based on gender selection. The Guttmacher Institute, which tracks abortion laws throughout the country, says Pennsylvania, Arizona and Oklahoma already have such laws.

more from the washington post

i'm close to rage stroking because crap like this is what they seem to be focusing on rather than the real issues

[sinkingfeeling]

1. Aren't they respectful. Force women to carry genetically defective fetuses!!

[Ilsa]

2. Surely, That would have to be overturned.

I can't believe they could get away with such a restrictive bill.

We need to remind ND that they'll be paying for the medical care and subsistence of ALOT of additional disabled people if they pass this law, as well as the medical care of infants who are born that die weeks after birth because their bodies are not capable of maintaining life outside the womb. There are some pregnancies that should be ended, but the body can't spontaneously abort.

[COLGATE4]

3. The mouth-breathers are outdoing themselves now

to see who can pass the most restrictive abortion bill. The goal, aside from throwing red meat to the Xian fundies who support these clowns is to get an abortion case - any case - before this Supreme Court. They believe (with some reason) that the present court could well vote 5-4 to gut Roe v Wade, and they are desperate to give them a chance to do it before some conservative justice croaks and Obama gets to appoint a liberal replacement. Best chance they've had in years. Look for even wackier stuff if this one doesn't get taken up by the Supremes.

[Ilsa]

4. Thanks. You are completely

Right in your assessment.

[AndyTiedye]

5. We Are Going to Lose Roe v Wade Very Soon

It is only a matter of time before one of these laws gets to the Supreme Court
where the Opus Dei majority will vote to strike down Roe v. Wade.

Abortion will be banned in all the red states immediately thereafter.

They are already shifting their messaging to start going after birth control now,
since they consider the abortion battle all but won. They are probably right.
What can we do to stop them?

[COLGATE4]

7. I wish I had an answer to your question.

I don't know. The Supreme Court is really the last bulwark against the tyranny of the majority that the Rethugs and their Fundie allies seek to impose on the rest of the country and right now I am not at all optimistic about the result if (or when) a case like this gets to them. Roberts may try and avoid taking Roe on if he has bigger fish to fry but he has a bunch of Opus Dei nutcases on the bench with him who are wetting their pants for a chance to do away with Roe. But even if the Supremes don't take it up in many States the 'instrumentalists' in the anti-abortion movement have made great strides in passing laws which make abortion still legal, but in practical terms unavailable.

For the time being a large number of Northeastern States will continue to protect a Woman's Right to her own body, perhaps along with California and a few other states. That is a poor outcome at best, since it jeopardizes Womens' health in perhaps half of the states. But if the USSCt speaks on the issue I can see even those states having the Right to Choose severely curtailed.

Not a rosy picture, I'm afraid.

[Ilsa]

8. Before long, they will try to make it illegal

for women in no-choice states to travel to choice states (if they can even afford it) for the purpose of obtaining an abortion. We'll have to take pregnancy tests before being allowed to cross state lines.

I know, it sounds extreme. But they are banning abortion after six weeks. Who would have thought that was possible?

[monmouth3]

6. I rarely realized I was even pregnant before six weeks...n/t

[Mad Maddie]

9. Too Much Rage to Deal With

Every time I hear about a new piece of anti-abortion legislation I get more and more infuriated! I would never go postal over it but I seriously don't know what to do with all this rage I have toward the people who are sponsoring these bills. It's the over-the-top stupidity, their denial that they really don't value women as much as they value a fetus, and the total disregard for women's lives that just makes me want to vomit all over them.

[Rhiannon12866]

10. A lot of us feel that way, especially since the "deciders" are male and very ill informed

It's frightening as hell what these mouth breathers have managed to come up with, ideas that would send women back a couple of centuries, not to mention attempting to set back many other hard-won civil rights. It's unbelievable, but they aren't backing off, which means that we need to work just that much harder just to keep what we already have.

Welcome to DU, Mad Maddie! It's great to have you with us!

[Mad Maddie]

11. Thank you!

Thanks for the welcome. I already feel right at home here.

I just wish they would hurry up and complete the Republican implosion process. How many more hateful things do they have to do to make this happen?

[Rhiannon12866]

12. So glad you found us!

And I wish that, too. But the nonsense persists and they just keep digging themselves in deeper and deeper. The problem, IMO, is that too few people are paying attention. *sigh*

That's one reason that I'm grateful for DU. Not only are folks here kindred spirits, but I learn something new here every single day. And I've been here since 2003. DU really is my online home.

[uppityperson]

13. Welcome to DU and glad you found our pro-choice forum. It is infuriating to hear young women and men

say "oh, it's not so bad, just go to another state" and the like. I was a teen when CA and NY were the only places to get legal abortions, unwed mothers homes were common, people ended up marrying the wrong sort (yes, it is easy to have hormonal driven sex with someone you think you love and find later that it is a very bad situation and not a good recipe for a long term relationship).

Women and girls had bad infections and died. "just say no to sex" is crap. Yes, take responsibility for your actions but having worked for a long time in women's/reproductive health, there are so many reasons people get abortions. It isn't that simple. And placing restriction after restriction to block them, excuse me, to "make sure they've thought it through" is bullshit. Total bullshit.

Welcome to DU, glad to have you here.

[libodem]

14. kick

Just happen to be thinking about this after reading kpete's great article in GD, about; At what point during gestation, do the mothers' human rights/civil rights cease to exist?

I'd link but I still never figured out how to do it. I'll give you a dollar if someone links or cross-posts it in here.

The part about strapping the laboring woman's legs together and a forced c-section, made me feel like this is a far cry from a free country. Alarming.

[fizzgig]

15. cross posted for you

i had missed that, thanks

[libodem]

16. Goddess bless

Thank you, Fizz, you rock. I found the article very troubling especially at the end where they site so many examples of women being jailed

[libodem]

17. oh

Yer dollar is in the mail.