Anti-abortion Christian Taliban waging a crusade in Republican-controled state legislatures
Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
Ealier this month, the state of Arkansas passed the most restrictive abortion law in the nation — a 12-week ban that prohibits most abortions when a fetal heartbeat can be detected using an abdominal ultrasound.
Arkansas' action touched off a race to the bottom among Republican-controled state legislatures where the Christian Taliban is firmly in control.
The state of North Dakota passed two anti-abortion bills last week, one banning most abortions if a fetal heartbeat can be detected,
something that can happen as early as six weeks into a pregnancy (before many women are even aware that they are pregnant).
Another measure would prohibit women from having the procedure because a
fetus has a genetic abnormalities, such as Down syndrome. Lawmakers urge governor to veto North Dakota abortion bills:
If the governor signs the measures, North Dakota would be the only state with those laws.
North
Dakota is one of several states with Republican-controlled Legislatures
and GOP governors looking at abortion restrictions, ranging from
denying funding under the federal health care law to requiring women to
get an ultrasound and teenagers to get parental permission before having
abortions. Just days before North Dakota lawmakers approved the ban,
Arkansas instituted a 12-week ban that prohibits most abortions when a
fetal heartbeat can be detected using an abdominal ultrasound.
A
fetal heartbeat can generally be detected earlier in a pregnancy using a
vaginal ultrasound, but Arkansas lawmakers balked at requiring women
seeking abortions to have the more invasive imaging technique. North
Dakota’s measure doesn’t specify how a fetal heartbeat would be
detected.