Monday, June 30, 2008

CAP: Napolitano's veto of the partial-birth abortion bill

Yesterday, in the midst of the marriage amendment debate, Governor Napolitano vetoed the partial-birth abortion ban for the second time this session. Partial-birth abortion is the gruesome procedure in which the baby's entire body is delivered, except for the head, and then the baby is killed by being stabbed in the neck with scissors and having its brain vacuumed out.

In her first veto letter, the Governor stated two concerns with the bill and that she "stand[s] ready to work on these issues in a bipartisan manner." Senator Linda Gray took the Governor at her word and introduced a bill that addressed the Governor's two concerns - giving doctors a chance to have the state medical board determine whether the partial-birth abortion was necessary to save the life of the mother and limiting the penalty to not more than two years in prison. Yet despite these changes and continuing bipartisan support in both Legislative chambers, the Governor vetoed the bill, thereby preventing Arizona from having a clear law preventing this horrific practice that literally takes the life of a preborn child.

In this second veto letter, the Governor falsely claimed the new ban would introduce "more criminal penalties...into the relationship between a woman and her physician." The state ban tracked identically the federal criminal penalties. A state ban on partial-birth is needed because the federal law only applies in limited scenarios with limited enforcement options.

Banning partial-birth abortion is widely supported beyond traditional pro-life groups, and the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that bans on this horrific procedure are constitutional. Governor Napolitano remains unwilling to consider the view held by the overwhelming majority of Arizonans that the partial-birth abortion procedure is appalling.

Governor Napolitano shows no respect for the sanctity of the unborn lives in Arizona or the health and safety of their mothers, as she has continually vetoed even reasonable measures to protect these children and their mothers. This second veto of the partial-birth abortion ban marks the tenth pro-life, pro-child, pro-woman bill she has rejected in her tenure as Governor:

  • Informed consent for women considering abortions (Vetoed in 2004)
  • Informing a woman considering an abortion that the child may feel pain (Vetoed in 2006)
  • Notarized written consent by a parent or guardian before a minor may get an abortion (Vetoed in 2006)
  • Guidelines for a judge to consider when allowing a minor to get an abortion without parental consent (Vetoed in 2006)
  • Amended guidelines for a judge to consider that addressed the Governor's concerns (Vetoed in 2008)
  • No insurance taxpayer subsidies for abortions for government employees (Vetoed in 2006)
  • Ban on the sale of human eggs (Vetoed in 2006)
  • Informed consent for women donating their eggs (Vetoed in 2006)
  • Ban on partial-birth abortion (Vetoed twice in 2008)

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Thanks for the information on informed consent bill. You bring up some good points.

We recently wrote an article on informed consent at Brain Blogger. What informed consent really should be is an thorough discussion with your doctor to inform you of the facts of whatever he/she needs your consent for. But, unfortunately, it can't always be that way.

We would like to read your comments on our article. Thank you.

Sincerely,
Kelly