Arizona lawmakers have passed a bill in the state House of Representatives that would allow surprise inspection of abortion clinics.
The bill would delete a provision of state law that would require a judge to sign off on a warrant before an inspection of any of the nine licensed abortion clinics in the state. This would bring abortion clinics in line with other health care facilities in the state that can be inspected at any time by state health officials.
Republicans say the change has nothing to do with the issue of abortion but rather health conditions for medical facilities.
“What is it that they have to hide?” Representative Debbie Lasko asked of clinic operators and Democratic lawmakers opposed to the bill.
Those who wish to promote and increase abortions said that new law would result in harassment of providers by subjecting them to the same standards used of other health care providers in Arizona.
Texas officials have closed a Houston area abortion clinic because they refused to follow regulations in new state laws.
The Houston Chronicle reported that A Affordable Women’s Medical Center had their license revoked on Friday. The revocation is the first since a law that requires abortion clinic doctors to have admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles from the clinic.
In addition, Dr. Theodore M. Herring, Jr. has his license to practice medicine temporarily suspended for committing 268 abortions between November 6, 2013 and February 7, 2014. Herring was the clinic’s medical director and sole abortionist.
The law requiring admission privileges went into effect November 1, 2013.
Herring’s lawyers say that the doctor submitted a plan to state officials that was ruled insufficient stating he would obtain the required hospital privileges by August 31, 2014.
A Chicago judge has reduced the fine to an abortion clinic for violations of cleanliness and health issues from $36,000 to just $77.
The arbitrary decision by Cook County Circuit Judge Alexander White said that he reduced the fine because the abortion clinic’s owner closed the facility and there was only $77 left in the company bank account.
However, it’s been shown that while the other clinic was technically closed, the owner opened a brand new clinic in the same location using the same website as he previous clinic without doing anything to repair the health code violations.
The Illinois Department of Health conducted an inspection in 2011 of the Women’s Aid Clinic and found food in the same freezer as fetal tissue, dirty floors, medication cups with old medicine in them and staff re-using paper towels on patients.
The clinic also did not perform CPR on a patient who died while in their care.
While the state can appeal the judge’s action, the state attorney general has been a large supporter of abortion and observers believe nothing will be done.
The rate of abortions in the United States has fallen to its lowest level since 1973.
The Guttmacher Institute, which supports legal abortion, released a report Monday showing that 1.06 million children died via abortion in 2011. The number of abortions in 2008 was 1.2 million.
The abortion rate for women in the U.S. between 15 and 44 years old was 16.9 per 1,000 women. It was the lowest rate since 16.3 in 1973 and well below the record high of 29.3 in 1981.
The report also included some information that doesn’t support those calling recently passed abortion regulations a barrier to women. According to the Guttmacher’s information, the decline in abortions had no connection to the recent decline in abortion clinics.
Rachel Jones, the report’s lead author, said the drop in abortions is connected to a decline in overall pregnancy and birth rates.
However, Carol Tobias of the National Right To Life Committee, said the overall drop in abortions is connected to the pro-life movement’s lobbying and legislative efforts. Tobias said it shows women are rejecting the idea of abortion as an answer to unplanned pregnancies.
Lawmakers have raised the alarm over the discovery of abortion fees being hidden inside premiums for the Affordable Care Act, in violation of federal laws.
Nowhere on the healthcare.gov website does an applicant discover that they will be paying at least $1 a month to fund abortions.
Representative Joe Pitts of Pennsylvania, chair of the House Energy and Commerce subcommittee on health, told Fox News that when the President promised the healthcare bill would not cover abortion it was a lie because the bill stipulated the $1 a month surcharge for abortions.
A house bill is being introduced this week to demand full disclosure of the hidden abortion funding and a separate itemized premium. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor will introduce the bill, the “No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act”.
The communications director for Rep. Pitts told Fox they could not find a single plan within the Healthcare Marketplace that disclosed the abortion funding as part of their plans.
A group of Hollywood celebrities are hosting an event to pay for abortions in Texas.
The event featuring comedians Sarah Silverman and Zach Galifinakis and others is aimed to protest Texas’ new laws protecting the lives of the unborn.
The money from the event will be given to a group called “A Is For” which will provide financial support for groups that will cover the cost of abortions, travel, lodging and child care for any woman that wants to kill their baby via abortion.
The event reportedly sold out quickly with ticket prices from $60 to $100.
Anti-life activists have been challenging the Texas laws in federal courts.
Those wishing to increase abortions in Arizona celebrated today when the Supreme Court refused to overturn a decision blocking the state’s law blocking abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy.
The Court’s refusal to hear the case leaves the ruling from the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in place that said the law preserving the lives of babies after 20 weeks was unconstitutional.
Arizona Governor Jan Brewer signed the ban into law in April 2012. Abortion advocates immediately ran to court to have the law struck down.
The appeals court said that the law violated the right to kill a baby through abortion before the child is considered “viable” by the government. The court said that was generally considered to be 24 weeks.
Lawyers representing the state said the ban was not technically a law but a medical regulation because doctors could perform abortions in medical emergencies.
Seventy new anti-abortion laws went into effect January 1 in 22 states prompting pro-abortionists to howl in protest.
The Guttmacher Institute reports the 70 new provisions are the second most ever behind 90 enacted in 2011.
Planned Parenthood, which is the source of one-third of all abortions each year in the United States, said the actions to protect the lives of babies was the result of “out of touch Tea Party politicians” who used “underhanded tricks” to get laws passed.
The abortion restrictions include requiring minors to get a parent’s permission, waiting periods and prohibitions on public funding of abortions.
Planned Parenthood threatened to target any politician that is against abortion.
Women under 33 will be able to get a state funded abortion in 2014 regardless of their circumstances according to Israeli health officials.
Subsidized abortion in Israel was only available previously for cases of rape, abuse or medical emergencies. Also, all women in the Israeli army were provided one free abortion on request.
Despite the new funding, women will still need to get the approval of a state committee before being able to obtain the abortion. Abortion is illegal without the board’s approval; however, the board approves 98% of cases that are brought before it.
The panel, which recommended the change, said that they expect to see 6,300 government-funded abortions in the new age range in 2014.
The panel will not consider any rights of the father for the baby and minors do not need to have a guardian or parent’s permission to appear before the committee to obtain an abortion.
The Michigan State Legislature has approved an initiative that would require any woman that wishes to have abortion coverage purchase it as a separate rider on their insurance rather than having it covered as part of Obamacare’s main packages.
Michigan Right To Life began the citizen-initiated petition drive after Republican Governor Rick Snyder vetoed similar legislation last year when it was inserted into a bill to change the state’s Blue Cross Blue Shield.
Republicans in the legislature said taxpayers should not have to pay for a woman’s abortions. Representative Nancy Jenkins said the bill doesn’t stop abortion in the state in any way or even restrict access to abortion for any woman.
Almost all Democratic members of both houses were vehemently and loudly opposed to the initiative and passage. They said that the bill was an overreach of government.
Democratic Representative Marcia Hovey-Wright said that supporting the bill to not make the state pay for abortions via Obamacare placed someone on the wrong side of history.
