Legislation on fetal heartbeats and abortion stalled for a second time in a House Committee because supporters weren’t there Thursday to vote and at least one anti-abortion lawmaker opposed the legislation because he’s not sure it is restrictive enough.
Also on the 32nd day of the 2013 legislative session, members considered new rules for lethal injections and whether the names of concealed-weapons license holders should be public information.
Senate Bill 134 by Jason Rapert, R-Bigelow, needed 11 favorable votes to move out of the House Public Health, Welfare and Labor Committee. The vote was 10 for and six against.
The bill aims to prevent abortions once a fetal heartbeat can be detected. Along with adding an exemption for a “highly lethal fetal disorder,” it was amended to provide for abortions in cases of medical emergency, not just life-threatening medical emergencies and to remove a criminal penalty for doctors who perform abortions prohibited by the legislation.
Initially, the legislation sought to outlaw abortions on fetuses as early as six weeks after conception. A later version would outlaw abortions after 12 weeks.
Rep. Justin Harris, R-West Fork, was the only Republican to vote against letting the bill out of committee.
Harris said he didn’t know the bill had been amended to exempt some fetal anomalies from the abortion ban until the bill was back before the committee.
The bill already had been approved by the committee and sent to the House. It was changed in the House this week without a public vote and sent back to committee.
Committee Chairman Rep. John Burris, R-Harrison, said the bill will be up for a second vote Tuesday. A bill can only be put up for a vote twice, committee staff said. Amending a bill restarts that count.
Some lawmakers, doctors and advocates had asked for an exemption in the bill for when the fetus has insurmountable health problems and may not live long outside the womb.
The bill does not explain a “highly lethal fetal disorder,” instead leaving it to the Arkansas State Medical Board to define which conditions would be covered.
Co-sponsor Rep. Ann Clemmer, R-Benton, said sponsorsdidn’t want to limit the qualifying conditions.
“We chose not to list them for fear that our list might not be comprehensive,” she said.
But, Harris said he’s worried about what disorders the medical board may list. Fetuses with Down’s syndrome or spina bifida must be protected from abortion, he added.
“Some could consider that lethal,” Harris said. “If it’s going to be that loose of an interpretation I’m not sure I could vote for the amendment.”
Harris said he only approves of exceptions for rape, incest and the mother’s health.
One disorder mentioned as a reason for the exemption is anencephaly.
Anencephaly is a condition in which a baby is born without parts of the brain or skull. Almost all babies born with anencephaly die shortly after birth, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC estimates that the disorder occurs in about 1 in 4,859 U.S. births each year.
The bill had stalled in the committee once over concerns women seeking abortions would have to undergo transvaginal ultrasounds, in which a probe is inserted into the vagina to detect the fetus’s heartbeat. The bill was amended to mandate the use of abdominal ultrasounds, the kind many pregnant women already undergo.
LETHAL INJECTIONS
Also Thursday, the House Judiciary Committee approved a bill to resume lethal injections in the state after the existing statute was ruled unconstitutional by the Arkansas Supreme Court last summer.
Attorney General Dustin McDaniel told the panel that Senate Bill 237, proposed by Bart Hester, R-Cave Springs, attempts to address the issues raised by the Supreme Court in its June ruling.
“We didn’t have great direction from the court in their opinion, so we have worked very diligently ... and we feel confident that we have appropriately articulated the drug protocol and the department’s procedures,” McDaniel told the committee.
In June, the Supreme Court struck down Act 1296 of 2009, the Method of Execution Act, saying that the Legislature “ abdicated its responsibility and passed to the executive branch, in this case the [Correction Department], unfettered discretion to determine all protocol and procedures, most notably the chemicals to be used, for state execution.”
Under SB237, prisoners would first be injected with a benzodiazepine, an anti-anxiety drug, before receiving “a barbiturate in an amount sufficient to cause death.”
Rep. John Walker, D-Little Rock, asked if there are still unanswered questions about the constitutionality of the death penalty because the Department of Correction would still have discretion to choose the particular drug used in the executions, based on availability.
“Obviously, we’re going to be sued no matter what bill we pass and we’re prepared for that,” McDaniel said.
CONCEALING CONCEALED WEAPONS
The Judiciary Committee also passed Senate Bill 131, sponsored by Sen. Bruce Holland, R-Greenwood, which would make secret the names and ZIP codes of concealedhandgun permit holders, the only information currently available to the public under the state Freedom of Information Act.
Rep. Andy Davis, R-Little Rock, told the committee that the purpose of the bill was to protect the privacy of gun owners, whose public information might be used to discover their home addresses.
Holland has said he filed the bill in response to out-of-state news organizations publishing such information.
HUMAN TRAFFICKING
In other business, the Senate sent to the governor a bill that would increase penalties for human trafficking.
House Bill 1203, sponsored by Rep. David Meeks, R-Greenbrier, would make it a Class Y felony to traffic a minor for labor or sex. Human trafficking is currently a Class A felony.
A Class Y felony is punishable by 10 to 40 years or life in prison. A Class A felony is punishable by six to 30 years in prison.
The bill also would create defenses against charges of prostitution and sexual solicitation for victims of human trafficking and allow victims to file civil actions against traffickers.
SCHOOL-VIOLENCE STUDY
The Senate also sent the governor legislation that would require the Legislative Council to conduct a study on publicschool safety.
Senate Bill 93, proposed by Sen. Linda Chesterfield, DLittle Rock, would require the council to perform the study or delegate the responsibility to the Senate and House education committees. The study would “determine the readiness and capabilities of publicschools” to respond to acts of violence.
The bill requires the report be given to the education committees by Sept. 1, 2014, and include a list of best practices and recommendations to prevent and respond to violence.
SCHOLARSHIP OVERHAUL
Also Thursday, former Lt. Gov. Bill Halter, who led a 2008 campaign to approve a constitutional amendment authorizing a state lottery for college scholarships, sharply criticized legislation revamping the lottery-financed scholarship program.
House Bill 1295, sponsored by Jeremy Gillam, R-Judsonia, cleared the House Rules Committee on Wednesday and is pending in the House. It gives future first-time recipients at the universities $2,000 the first year, $3,000 the second, $4,000 as juniors and $5,000 as seniors. Future first-time recipients at community colleges would get $2,000 a year for two years; they wouldqualify for the larger amounts if they transferred to a fouryear school.
The current system gives scholarships to university students that are twice as large as those awarded to communitycollege enrollees.
“With virtually no warning to tens of thousands of parents and students, this bill fundamentally changes the program to the point where it will reduce the number of Arkansas students able to enter a state college or university,” said Halter, a Democratic candidate for governor.
But Gillam replied, “Instead of run for governor, if [Halter] wants to run to be a member of the Legislature, then he can be member of the General Assembly and help us craft these kind of things.”
The size of individual scholarships has shrunk since the lottery began because there are more scholarship recipients than expected - and not enough lottery players, according to lawmakers.
Front Section, Pages 7 on 02/15/2013