24-Hour Abortion Waiting Period Bill Passed by Senate, Signed by Governor
Abortion Restriction Embedded in Circus Bill Saint Paul, Minnesota— Hours after the Senate passed a restrictive 24-hour waiting period on abortion that had been inserted by the House into a bill that deregulates circuses, Governor Tim Pawlenty signed the measure. The bill has several new components from previous years’ versions of the so-called “Woman’s Right to Know” bill. The House inserted the anti-abortion package as an amendment to the Circus Bill on March 31 in order to bypass the Senate Committee process, where some provisions may have been stripped or weakened. Minnesota NARAL had lobbied the Senate heavily to defeat the bill and called upon Gov. Pawlenty to veto the extreme measure. Minnesota NARAL and other pro-choice allies mobilized their members to flood the governor’s office with calls to veto the bill. “Even though we recognize the governor opposes legal abortion, we called on him to veto this extreme measure,” said Tim Stanley, executive director of Minnesota NARAL. “The governor missed an opportunity to demonstrate he answers to the people of Minnesota and not the extreme agenda of the religious right. While the governor and the legislature is supposedly working to fix the budget problem, the MCCL [Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life] is pulling their strings and making lawmakers insert their agenda into bills designed to deregulate circuses.” “Today is a sad day for democracy in our state when a special interest group is writing laws word for word without legislative debate,” said Stanley. “We hope the next time the MCCL places their bill before Governor Pawlenty that he will put his foot down and do right thing with a veto.” Minnesota NARAL is an affiliate of NARAL Pro-Choice America and is the largest grassroots pro-choice group in Minnesota. ###
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