Abortion legislation round up: Texas, North Dakota, Arkansas and Oklahoma edition

[cali]

First Texas. More TRAP law crap. The intent is to make it impossible for clinics to operate:

The Senate Health and Human Services Committee approved a bill 5-0 mandating that doctors who perform abortions maintain admitting privileges at a nearby hospital.

Supporters said the bill would improve care for women and assure they could get help if they suffered complications.

But opponents said the bill only places unnecessary obstacles for doctors willing to perform abortions.

In addition, the Texas Hospital Association testified against the bill, saying the measure would subject hospitals to needless time and expense screening doctors who rarely, if ever, would need to admit patients into their facility.

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http://trailblazersblog.dallasnews.com/2013/04/senate-panel-passes-additional-abortion-regulations.html/

On to Arkansas where the ACLU and The Center for reproductive rights are suing the state's newly legislated 12 week ban on abortion. Thanks to both organizations:

Abortion rights advocates filed a lawsuit Tuesday that seeks to overturn the more restrictive of Arkansas' two new abortion laws, saying the near-ban of abortions from the 12th week of pregnancy onward is unconstitutional.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Arkansas and the Center for Reproductive Rights, which filed the suit on behalf of Dr. Louis Jerry Edwards and Dr. Tom Tvedten, who provide abortions at a Little Rock clinic, say Arkansas' ban clearly contradicts the standard of viability established by the U.S. Supreme Court's landmark Roe v. Wade decision.

"We are asking the court to block an attempt to essentially outlaw all abortions past 12 weeks, so early that a woman might not know the complete health and status of her pregnancy," Rita Sklar, executive director of Arkansas' ACLU chapter, said at a news conference.

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http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/lawsuit-seeks-block-arkansas-abortion-law-18970498#.UW5tL0qsp7k

And to nutty North Dakota where having passed legislation last month banning abortion at 6 weeks, they decided they needed extra insurance because they know that's going down.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/apr/17/north-dakota-law-abortion-20-weeks

And Oklahoma

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — The Oklahoma Senate easily approved three abortion-related bills on Tuesday, including two that would make it more difficult for minors to receive an abortion, over the objection of some abortion rights supporters who claim the measures are an attempt to restrict the practice in Oklahoma.

Two of the bills restrict the use of “judicial bypass,” a procedure that allows girls younger than 18 to ask a judge’s permission to get an abortion without parental consent. The first would eliminate the exemption that allows a minor to avoid parental notification of they seek a judicial bypass.

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A third bill adds more than a dozen questions to the list that abortion providers must answer, including several that are related to abortion-related measures that have passed in recent years. One example is a question that asks doctors at which hospital they have privileges at the time they perform the abortion, a requirement that was imposed by a recently approved law.

Opponents have argued the measure is an attempt to intimidate and overburden abortion providers.

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http://muskogeephoenix.com/statenews/x437166230/State-Senate-passes-abortion-legislation

Busy little bees.