Arizona Senate Passes 15-Week Pro-Life Law
In a 16-13 party-line vote, the Arizona Senate passed a pro-life measure protecting unborn children from abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy, with an exception for medical emergencies. The bill text defines "medical emergency" as "a condition that, on the basis of the physician's good faith clinical judgment, so complicates the medical condition of a pregnant woman as to necessitate the immediate abortion of her pregnancy to avert her death or for which a delay will create serious risk of substantial and irreversible impairment of a major bodily function." The Arizona measure also contains strict provisions attempting to ensure accurate reporting of abortions performed after 15 weeks, to track compliance with the policy once it becomes law. Read more...