Arizona Abortion Bill: Legislators Pass Three Bills, Including One That Redefines When Life Begins

Arizona lawmakers gave final passage to three anti-abortion bills Tuesday afternoon, including one that declares pregnancies in the state begin two weeks before conception.

The Republican-controlled House of Representatives passed a bill to prohibit abortions after the 18th week of pregnancy; a bill to protect doctors from being sued if they withhold health information about a pregnancy that could cause a woman to seek an abortion; and a bill to mandate that how school curriculums address the topic of unwanted pregnancies.

All of the bills passed the Senate and now head to Gov. Jan Brewer (R) for her signature or veto.

The 18th week bill includes a new definition for when pregnancy begins. A sentence in the bill defines gestational age as "calculated from the first day of the last menstrual period of the pregnant woman," which would move the beginning of a pregnancy up two weeks prior to conception. The bill's passage would give Arizona the earliest cutoff for late-term abortions in the country; most states use 20 weeks as a definition.

But while the bill's definition of when pregnancy begins is new in legislation, it's not necessarily new for doctors. Elizabeth Nash, states issues manager for Guttmacher Institute, a reproductive health research organization in Washington, said it corresponds with how doctors typically determine gestational age. She said since the exact date of conception cannot be pinpointed, doctors use the day of the woman's last menstrual period to gauge the duration of a pregnancy. The method does not provide an exact date.

"It will have some impact, from what we understand there are abortions provided at that point in Arizona," Nash said. "It will reduce access."

Nash said nationally, 1.5 percent of abortions in the U.S. occur after the 21st week and 3.8 percent occur between the 16th and 20th weeks. She said the bill would violate U.S. Supreme Court rulings on abortion by mandating a cutoff date that is before viability and not having enough provisions for late-term abortions needed to protect a woman's health.

State Rep. Kimberly Yee (R-Phoenix), the bill's sponsor, was not immediately available for comment. Her assistant said that Yee, a former aide to former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R), was voting on the House floor.

State Rep. Matt Heinz (D-Tucson), a physician, said he did not want the state to set the gestational age since science could not provide a precise one. "I imagine it will be a legal dispute. How can a judge determine gestational age?" Heinz said. "If medical science can only determine gestational age to within 10-14 days, how can a superior court judge do it?"

The other two bills passed by the House include the state's "wrongful birth, wrongful life" bill that prohibits lawsuits against doctors who do not provide information about a fetus' health if that information could lead to an abortion. In addition, parents cannot sue on the child's behalf after birth.

The third bill requires that schools teach students that adoption and birth are the most acceptable outcomes for an unwanted pregnancy.

All three bills are now headed to Brewer's desk for her review. The governor has not announced a position on the bills, which is her practice, but her spokesman indicated that Brewer has a long commitment to pro-life issues.

Clarification: This text has been altered since its original publication to clarify that the bill's definition of when pregnancy begins is new specifically to state legislation.

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Comments

[BarryMayor]

06:23 AM on 05/08/2013

Life begins when a organism of the species Homo sapiens exists.

[sloppyjoe1973]

08:48 PM on 02/04/2013

The fourth Republican backed anti-abortion bill will punish any woman going through her menstrual cycle, since they failed to bring the possible baby to full term. Jan Brewer is expected to sign it.

[WhoWins]

12:53 AM on 10/17/2012

This means a woman is basically always pregnant.

NICE, because every guy knows they can't get a pregnant woman pregnant!

It's on baby!

[Arthomino]

02:15 PM on 09/05/2012

I'm calling B.S. on this report.

[KAK1958]

03:00 PM on 08/30/2012

"the state's "wrongful birth, wrongful life" bill that prohibits lawsuits against doctors who do not provide information about a fetus' health if that information could lead to an abortion."

Then why bother to go to a doctor if he or she isn't going to do their job. The mother is the patient, the one paying for the doctor's services. That is the very definition of malpractice. How far does it go? "I'm not going to tell you that you that you are experiencing an ectopic pregnancy...I'll just let you suffer a little while longer and maybe die as the embryo grows larger."

Women really are becoming the soles of society's shoes.

[Steve6464]

12:33 AM on 08/30/2012

If life starts when the egg is released then women who have gone through puberty are having monthly abortions. In order to prevent these abortions a woman must be constantly pregnant as soon as they begin having their period. So either this law supports the marriage of 13 year old girls or premarital sex of 13 year old girls. Interesting policy.

[Paris Hall]

09:42 AM on 08/28/2012

I got it: conception begins at the testes. Better yet: conception begins at puberty.
Idiots.

[M PM]

03:18 PM on 08/28/2012

You're clueless.

[lmedellin]

07:42 AM on 08/28/2012

Arizona, the state of goverment idiots.

[Nikki68404]

07:06 AM on 08/28/2012

so technically (according to Arizona law) I am pregnant every month until my next menstrual cycle? Boy will my husband be able to breath a sigh of relief every month when I get to announce... "hey babe, guess what I am not pregnant! OAN I wonder if sales on pregnancy tests in Arizona will decline... ^.^

[Katrina Pelosi]

12:36 AM on 08/28/2012

ok there is a big difference between gestational age and fetus age. It is usually 2 weeks. If you are using gestational age to determine the cut off for abortions you are breaking a law put into place by the supreme court because a fetus that is only 16 weeks is not close to being viable. Even if they use fetus age at 18 weeks a pregnancy is also not viable so either way you want to argue this it is still illegal.

[Anahi12]

11:33 PM on 08/27/2012

I cannot believe this is true. I live in Arizona and I hear all kinds of stupid stuff being proposed to be laws, but this is crossing the line. I never liked moving to this state and now I will take the idea of moving out of here once I finish college completely serious. They've gone too far!

[INTDES70]

12:21 PM on 08/27/2012

This is a huge step back for Women, and should it stand, it's even more sad. This is just one step closer to the outlaw of birth control, and medical services to help women not only with reproductive health, but with the health of their reproductive system. I fear we are close to the day when removal of organs to protect the woman from cancer, etc are close at hand. Funny the future now looks a lot like the past, and Arizona, once home to the biggest hole on earth, is now the BIGGEST HOLE on earth. You want to see what a Romney Presidency looks like, Arizona is an good example.

[monkbot]

06:42 PM on 08/25/2012

I don’t think a law with creepy language that restricts reproductive rights and instantly makes everyone two weeks older is a very smart way to secure women’s votes.

[soo fee]

05:50 PM on 08/25/2012

i hope the lawmakers in AZ realize that gestational age and embryonal/fetal age are 2 different measurements.

[Katherine Hompes]

08:33 PM on 08/27/2012

I don't think they do.

[chmch]

06:55 PM on 08/24/2012

Looks to me like AZ left the union. Let's start pulling all our tax dollars out of there. Good luck, cowboys!