(SitNews) Juneau, Alaska - Sunday, the Alaska State House passed Senate Bill 49, sponsored by Senator John Coghill (R-North Pole), which is said will neutrally define what a “medically necessary abortion” is for the purpose of making payments under Medicaid. The bill incorporates House intent language to ensure continued funding for existing women’s health programs in Alaska.

SB 49 was crafted after thorough legal review of the 2001 Planned Parenthood case. The definition incorporates the necessary foundation in the Hyde Amendment and includes neutral medical terms taken directly from testimony by numerous medical professionals.

“As chairman of the Judiciary Committee, I wanted to clear up the definitions we follow when using state money for abortions,” said Senator Coghill. “State Medicaid should not be covering any purely elective procedures, including elective abortions.”

According to a news release from Senator Coghill, Senate Bill 49 will ensure that the state is only paying for abortions in cases of rape or incest (as required by the Hyde Amendment) or where the woman faces death or a major bodily impairment arising from the pregnancy. “We are simply trying to define, using relevant, neutral legal and medical standards, when it is appropriate for the people of Alaska to pay for a truly medically necessary abortion,” said Senator Coghill.

However the Alaska Democratic Party says, SB 49 puts politicians between women & doctors, and requires disclosure of private medical conditions.

According to a news release from Zack Fields, Communications Director of the Alaska Democratic Party, the passage of SB 49 allows politicians to dictate what constitutes a “medically necessary” abortion, and to force women to disclose personal medical information to the government. No other medical procedure requires such an invasion of personal privacy, and pending litigation suggests the regulation likely will be found unconstitutional. Republicans passed this bill after eliminating provisions that would have encouraged family planning, meaning that this unprecedented invasion of privacy probably won’t even reduce the number of abortions.

“Republicans in the legislature have declared war on women’s privacy and health care. It is profoundly cynical to invade women’s medical privacy while rejecting programs that could have reduced the number of abortions,” said Kay Brown, Executive Director of the Alaska Democratic Party.

In what became known as “Alaska’s New War on Women,” the state legislature attacked not just women’s privacy but even contraception. Republican Senator Fred Dyson told women to stop drinking “lattes” if they couldn’t afford contraception. Republican Senator Pete Kelly said birth control is for women who don’t want to “behave responsibly.” Senator Coghill spearheaded legislation to define a “medically necessary” abortion and to require women to report their medical conditions to the government, an unprecedented invasion of medical privacy.

Senate Bill 49 now heads back to the Alaska Senate.

Edited by Mary Kauffman, SitNews

Sources of News: 

Senator John Coghill, Alaska Senate Majority Leader
www.akleg.gov

Alaska Democratic Party
alaskademocrats.org

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