Friday, June 26, 2009

Arizona Legislature Sends Pro-Life Bills to Governor Jan Brewer



Catholic Conference of Bishops Urges Action

By Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
June 24, 2009

Phoenix, AZ (LifeNews.com) -- The Arizona legislature has sent a package of pro-life bills to Governor Jan Brewer and she is expected to sign them into law. That would be a departure from pro-abortion former Gov. Janet Napolitano, who signed up for President Barack Obama's administration after vetoing numerous pro-life bills over the years.

The first measure, HB 2400, creates a state ban on partial birth abortions so local prosecutors can make sure the federal partial-birth abortion ban can be better enforced.

The second bill, HB 2564, would protect women, parents, children, and the civil rights of health care providers.

That legislation calls for informed consent before abortions along with a 24-hour waiting period, parental consent requirements, a prohibition on non-doctors doing surgical abortions, and of conscience for all health care providers, including pharmacists, on abortion and abortion drugs.

Cathi Herrod of the Center for Arizona Policy talked about the importance of the legislation.

"HB 2564, the Abortion Consent Act, establishes informed consent procedures for women considering abortion, fixes problems in Arizona's parental consent law, and protects health care workers from being forced to participate in abortion against their moral and religious beliefs. It is the most significant pro-life legislation to pass in Arizona," she explained.

"Governor Jan Brewer now must sign these bills for them to become law. Governor Brewer and her spokesman repeatedly have stated that Gov. Brewer is pro-life," Herrod told LifeNews.com.

Ron Johnson of the Arizona Catholic Conference applauded the news and urged pro-life advocates to contact Brewer urging support for them.

"Two of the most important pro-life bills in decades (HB 2564 and HB 2400) have now passed the Arizona Legislature and will soon be acted upon by Governor Brewer," he told LifeNews.com. "Please take a minute and encourage Governor Brewer to sign into law both of these very significant measures."

The state House signed off on the package of bills and it passed the partial-birth abortion ban on a 36-19 vote and the omnibus pro-life consent bill 37-19.

ACTION: Contact Governor Brewer at (602) 542-4331 or (800) 253-0883 or email her at azgov@az.gov and ask her to sign these two pro-life bills into law.