House to Vote on Elimination of Existing State Abortion Regulations

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Email Subject:

Dear [Your Elected Official],

I am writing to ask you to vote "No" on HB 7312  "AN ACT CONCERNING ACCESS TO REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH CARE". This bill eliminates all abortion regulations in the state and was added to this legislation at the last minute before the Committee voted.  A public hearing on the removal of regulation 19-13-D54 was never held. The committee was also told this regulation only applies to outpatient abortion clinics which is not the case. If applies to all medical facilities. 
After assuring members of the Public Health Committee and the public at a public hearing on March 7th that a 50 year old regulation governing abortions in the state would not be removed by HB 7213, the exact opposite happened. On March 26th the co-chairs (Sen. Saud Anwar(D) and Rep. Cristin McCarthy Vahey(D)) added the regulation, 19-13-D54, to HB 7213 and targeted it for deletion the morning of the committee vote. Again, a major change without a public hearing.
The regulations being removed do not in any way impact a woman's ability to receive an abortion in our state.
What will be the effects of HB 7213? 1. Eliminates legal protections for medical personnel who do not want to participate in an abortion based on their personal judgement, philosophical, moral and religious beliefs. 45 other states currently have such protections.
2. Eliminates a mandate that life support measures should be used if the newborn shall show signs of life following a failed late-term abortion.
3. Eliminates prohibiting abortions in the third trimester (28th week) unless to preserve the life or health of the expectant mother. This regulation is in line with existing state law 19a-602 which prohibits an abortion after viability which is around 24-26 weeks.
4. Eliminates all abortion reporting requirements. When an abortion is performed it must be reported to the Department of Public Health by the provider. The report contains various items of information related to the abortion, such as age of the patient, gestational period, race, complications, state of residence and the type of facility where it was performed. This data is shared with the Center for Disease Control for its annual health reporting. Since abortion providers have recently made requests to the state for financial assistance, it would benefit the taxpayers to be aware of these numbers to avoid misrepresentation by abortion advocates. 45 other states have reporting requirements.
5. Eliminates the requirement that all third trimester abortions must be performed in a hospital. For the protection of the woman, and should the viable infant survive the abortion, these late term abortions should be done in a hospital facility with resources available should an emergency occur.
 I am asking you to vote "No" on this extreme piece of legislation.

Sincerely,

[Your Name]

[Your Address]

[Your City & State]

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Summary

The State House of Representatives Will Be Voting May 1st on Legislation Eliminating Important Abortion Regulations - Contact Your Sate Representative and Urge Them to Vote "No". House Bill 7213 "AN ACT CONCERNING ACCESS TO REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH CARE" What impact will HB 7213 have on abortion regulations in Connecticut? Regulations that have existed for over 50 years in our state. 1. Eliminates legal protections for medical personnel who do not want to participate in an abortion based on their personal judgement, philosophical, moral and religious beliefs. The only legal remedy left would be for that person to file a lawsuit under federal law. An extremely difficult and costly process. 45 other states currently have such protections. 2. Eliminates a mandate that life support measures should be used if the newborn shall show signs of life following a failed late-term abortion. 3. Eliminates prohibiting abortions in the third trimester (28th week) unless to preserve the life or health of the expectant mother. This regulation is in line with existing state law 19a-602 which prohibits an abortion after viability which is around 24-26 weeks. 4. Eliminates all abortion reporting requirements. When an abortion is performed, the provider must reported it to the Department of Public Health. The report contains various items of information related to the abortion, such as age of the patient, gestational period, race, complications, state of residence and the type of facility where it was performed. This data is shared with the Center for Disease Control for its annual health reporting. Since abortion providers have recently made requests to the state for financial assistance, it would benefit the taxpayers to be aware of these numbers to avoid misrepresentation by abortion advocates. 46 states have a reporting requirement. 5. Eliminates the requirement that all third trimester abortions must be performed in a hospital. For the protection of the woman, and should the viable infant survive the abortion, these late term abortions should be done in a hospital facility with resources available should an emergency occur. The action to place the removal of regulation 19-13-D54 into HB 7213 was made moments before the Public Health Committee voted on the bill.  Despite stiff opposition and proposed amendments by Republicans, the Democrat majority easily passed the bill out of committee. During the hours long debate on the change to HB 7213 the co-chairs displayed a distinct lack of understanding of what was in the regulation they were deleting.

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