Sunday, March 11, 2012
Abortion Rapert bill similar to Virginia's on invasive ultrasound
Posted by Max Brantley on Sun, Mar 11, 2012 at 8:44 AM
The Republican Party — save for the tiny segment that still supports legal access to abortion (and there ARE such Republican women) — thinks, conversely, that this is a winner for THEM. In the echo chamber of Republican thought, it is inconceivable that women might have good and well-considered reason for abortion, particularly in the very earliest stages, or that birth control might be of medical value for reasons other than preventing pregnancy. Polls, even in Arkansas, still show a majority favors continuation of legal abortion, if with restrictions. Many who declare themselves "pro-life" nonetheless want to retain the legal option to terminate pregnancy.
There's a most interesting local angle. One of the hottest state legislative races this year will pit Democratic Rep. Linda Tyler of Conway against Republican Sen. Jason Rapert, who's moved away from Bigelow to make a run for Senate in a redrawn district. Tyler was chair of the House Public Health Committee when it turned back, by often narrow margins, radical anti-abortion legislation. Rapert was the sponsor of a radical anti-abortion bill that passed the Senate but died in her committee.
Rapert sponsored mandatory ultrasound legislation that could be interpreted to be every bit as punitive as the Virginia legislation that set off a recent firestorm and ultimately was amended before passage. The Virginia bill would have required — against a woman's will — insertion of a wand into a woman's vagina, the only means of detecting a fetal heartbeat in the very early stages of pregnancy. Here's the original Virginia bill. And here's Rapert's bill. And here's the key passage in Rapert's:
20-16-1304. Testing for heartbeat.
(a) A person authorized to perform abortions under Arkansas law shall not perform an abortion on a pregnant woman before the person tests the pregnant woman to determine whether the fetus the pregnant woman is carrying possesses a detectible heartbeat.(b) A person authorized to perform abortions under Arkansas law shall perform a detection of a heartbeat of an unborn human individual according to standard medical practice, including the use of medical devices as determined by standard medical practice.
(c)(1) The State Board of Health may adopt rules based on standard medical practice for testing for the fetal heartbeat of an unborn human individual.
The Virginia legislation didn't specify use of transvaginal ultrasound either. But proponents acknowledged in debate that the invasive transvaginal probe must be used early in pregnancy. The original Virginia bill said, just as Rapert's bill did: "The ultrasound image shall be made pursuant to standard medical practice in the community ..."
I've asked Rapert if he believed his bill required the invasive procedure. I'll let you know what he says.
UPDATE: One-word answer from Sen. Rapert: "No." I've asked for more elaboration, given the similarity in language and the medical testimony in Virginia relative to what's necessary to detect a fetal hearbeat in the earliest stages of pregnancy.
It's enough to know that the Rapert legislation was equally offensive in many other ways — beginning with mandating a medical test on women that is not medically indicated. (It is the one mandate anti-health care reform legislators such as Rapert admire.) It also treated women like children by requiring them to be informed in writing of the findings of the test, including the presence of a heartbeat and the statistical probability of carrying a fetus to term. (In Virginia, women can choose not to receive the results.) It is exactly the shaming procedure that Doonesbury will caricature in a series of strips to be published this week.
There was an exception for "emergencies," but not for women seeking an abortion in cases of rape and incest.
Rapert's bill was even more punitive than the Virginia legislation in one respect — it required the ultrasound at least 24 hours before the abortion, where the original Virginia bill set the time at 2 hours. The 24-hour requirement turns a trip for an abortion — which likely means a pill in the very earliest stages of pregnancy — into a two-day mission at great distance to the few places in Arkansas still providing abortion services.
Republicans have been spoiling to beat up Linda Tyler on this issue. (Imagine, a woman more sensitive than a man to a women's health issues. Doesn't she know what the Bible says about who's in charge?) But recent events may have altered the political dynamics somewhat. When I erred and wrote last week that a Rapert effort to criticize the Health Department spending with Planned Parenthood was on family planning, one of his operatives was lightning quick to correct that Rapert's interest was about a sexually transmitted diseases program, not family planning. (Though the core issue on the STD program was condom distribution.)
It is still Arkansas. And Conway is home to big conservative fundamentalist churches that have over the years, among others, pushed for abstinence-only sex education in the public schools. Linda Tyler, in fact, might just as soon I not advertise that Jason Rapert is a champion for depriving women of their reproductive rights; for mandating unnecessary and expensive medical procedures, and for treating them like children when they visit doctors. But there it is.
Speaking of...
-
Appeals court strikes down 20-week abortion ban
May 21, 2013The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has struck down the Arizona law that put a ban on abortions beginning with the 20th week of pregnancy. /more/
-
Stormy morning: Shoffner, hospitals, abortion
May 21, 2013A morning report as Arkansas watches the stormy skies: * THE STATE TREASURER WATCH: Can Martha Shoffner really return to work today as state treasurer, overseeing billions in state investments, after admitting to FBI agents that she wrongfully accepted a pie stuffed with a cash kickback from a securities salesman she inordinately favored with state business? /more/
-
Practicing law with Bro. Rapert
May 18, 2013Sen. Jason Rapert, author of the patently unconstitutional bill to ban most abortions in Arkansas at the 12th week of pregnancy, took heart yesterday at Judge Susan Webber Wright's indication that she was inclined to uphold the part of the law that requires women seeking an abortion in the 12th week of pregnancy or later to have an ultrasound and to be shown the results of that test. /more/
-
Judge Wright issues injunction against abortion law
May 17, 2013The word from the federal courthouse is that federal Judge Susan Webber Wright has issued a preliminary injunction against enforcement of the new Arkansas law that was meant to bar most abortions at the 12th week of pregnancy. /more/
-
Women's rights in court this morning
May 17, 2013Leslie Newell Peacock will be in federal court for us this morning for the preliminary injunction hearing on the lawsuit challenging the new state law prohibiting most abortions after 12 weeks of pregnancy. /more/
-
The death and taxes open line
May 16, 2013The line is open. Closing out: * THERE THE GOP GOES AGAIN: The Arkansas Republican Party is in all-out assault mode on U.S. Sen. Mark Pryor, today pounding him for saying seven years ago that he supported permanent repeal of the estate tax (dishonestly called a "death tax" by the Republicans) but joining in recent bipartisan approval of what is now a dramatically lower estate tax. /more/
-
Guns and fetuses: A legislative review
May 16, 2013Crazy Davy Carter, the House speaker who is a potential Republican candidate for governor, won headlines all over today for remarks at a legislative conference in Hot Springs that Republicans need to move beyond guns and abortion to focus on issues more important to average Arkies. /more/
-
Judge refuses to dismiss suit challenging new 12-week abortion limit
May 15, 2013Federal Judge Susan Webber Wright has denied the state of Arkansas's motion to dismiss the ACLU-backed lawsuit challenging the new state law, passed over Gov. Mike Beebe's veto, to prevent most abortions after the 12th week of pregnancy. /more/
-
Morning report: Prescription drug watch
May 13, 2013The morning again begins slowly. But among others: * MONITORING DOCTORS' PRESCRIPTION PRACTICES: Pro Publica has published with the Washington Post a deep look at doctors' prescription practices under Medicare. /more/
-
How the Arkansas legislature has changed your life
May 9, 2013For better or for worse. /more/
- More »
Comments (43)
Showing 1-43 of 43
More by Max Brantley
-
Arkansas Children's Hospital gets gift for burn treatment
Dr. Charles and Cindy Fuller, whose daughter Rachel was fatally injured in the 1999 crash of American Airlines flight 1420 at Little Rock National Airport, have made a gift that will allow Arkansas Children's Hospital to create an endowed chair in burn . Their gift, with a match from the hospital foundation, will provide $1 million for Burn Center equipment, program support and education activities.
- Apr 23, 2013
-
Loca Luna loses court challenge of parking plan for The Fold
The Arkansas Court of Appeals today affirmed a circuit court ruling upholding a zoning variance given for The Fold, a new restaurant at 3501 Old Cantrell Road, just a few yards from Loca Luna.
- May 22, 2013
- More »
Readers also liked…
-
Petrino had rider in motorcycle crash
The State Police this afternoon reported that Razorback football coach Bobby Petrino was not alone when he crashed his motorcycle Sunday.
- Apr 5, 2012
-
Bobby Petrino is a jerk and liar UPDATE
Perhaps you think the headline exaggerates. Perhaps you should ask the staff of the Cotton Bowl about their dealings with the haughty Petrino entourage, my friends in the Arkansas sports writing community say.
- Apr 7, 2012
-
America's 'golden door' slams shut on another immigrant
The news report on Channel 4 last night perhaps was a cause for celebration for those agitating for mass deportation of all the "illegal aliens" sucking the blood out of these United States.
- Apr 28, 2012
Event Calendar
-
Re: Will the Arkansas Chamber of Commerce press a 'tort reform' initiative?
Paint tort reform as a "One-Size-Fits-All" "Government regulation" that empowers a "Bureaucrat" to determine how…
- on May 22, 2013
-
Re: ExxonMobil has a plan for Lake Maumelle watershed
"But there is something odd about how it veers off toward the confluence of Cadron…
- on May 22, 2013
-
Re: ExxonMobil has a plan for Lake Maumelle watershed
http://gizmodo.com/5914311/56-years-of-dea…
That links to an amazing map that documents some…- on May 22, 2013
Top Commenters
Blogroll
Slideshows
-
May 16, 2013
Site Index
News
Cover Story / Arkansas Reporter / The Week That Was / Smart Talk / The Insider / The Observer / Editorial / Max Brantley / Ernest Dumas / Gene Lyons / Bob Lancaster / Words / Guest Writer / Letters
Entertainment
A&E Feature / To-Do List / In Brief / Movie Reviews / Music Reviews / Theater Reviews / A&E News / Art Notes / Graham Gordy / Books / Media / Dining Reviews / Dining Guide / What's Cookin' / Calendar / The Televisionist / Movie Listings / Gallery Listings
This Week's Cover
Quick Links
Special Publications
RSS
Facebook
Twitter
