Anti-Choice Amendments Offered to House HHS Finance Bill
Saint Paul--In the early hours in the morning, the Minnesota House debated the Health and Human Services Finance Bill. House members offered dozens of amendments to the bill, including several reproductive health proposals. Rep. Otremba (DFL-Long Prairie) offered an amendment that would allow parents to view what are currently minors’ confidential medical records. Parents would be able to demand to see detailed records as they relate to pregnancy-prevention, mental health, or substance abuse health care. "This legislation will not improve the health of teenagers," said Tim Stanley, executive director of Minnesota NARAL. "The only thing it will guarantee is that fewer adolescents will seek health care when they need it out of concern of their parents finding out." The Otremba amendment was passed in a 92-40 vote.Another frightening amendment was offered by Rep. Lipman (R-Lake Elmo) which would seek to challenge a state Supreme Court decision requiring the state to pay for abortions for Medicaid recipients as long as the state was paying for other pregnancy-related care. The Lipman amendment was ruled out of order.Two amendments that would improve access to reproductive health care failed. The first, offered by Rep. Davnie (DFL-Minneapolis), would have narrowed the Otremba initiative on parental access to medical records by requiring the minor to consent in the first place. The amendment was defeated 40-91. Rep. Kelliher (DFL-Minneapolis) offered an amendment that would require hospital ERs to make emergency contraception available to survivors of sexual assault. The amendment was withdrawn.Further anti-choice, anti-health access initiatives are expected to be offered both in the House and Senate through the rest of the session.
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