House Committee Passes Abortion Changes Bill
Air Date:02/14/2011
By Kealey Bultena
House Judiciary members are sending a bill to the floor that changes requirements for women choosing abortion.
Among other mandates, House Bill 1217 requires a woman considering terminating pregnancy be interviewed by a pregnancy help center, which determines whether she’s been coerced into having an abortion. Republican Representative Roger Hunt is a sponsor of the bill.
"This legislation is going to say, basically the woman really needs to be informed. You nor I would go to a doctor for surgery unless we sat down and we had all the information we wanted. We might even ask for a second opinion," Hunt says.
Pro-choice groups oppose the measure. They say pregnancy help centers offer only information that dissuades women from choosing abortion. They also point to South Dakota voters who have twice refused to ban abortion in the state as a lack of support.
The measure passed the committee by a vote of 9 to 4.
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