Republican legislators in the Arizona state House Health and Human Services Committee this week approved a bill that would criminalize late term abortion except in cases where a woman’s life is endangered. The bill is intended to provide for state prosecution that mirrors federal law that bans late term abortions. According to Capitol Media Services, there was no testimony against the bill, in part because the committee’s Democratic legislators were in Washington, DC for the Presidential Inauguration.
Former Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano has vetoed similar legislation twice last year. Napolitano was confirmed as President Obama’s Homeland Security Secretary on Tuesday and is being replaced by Republican Jan Brewer.
Cathi Herrod, president of the conservative Center for Arizona Policy, told the Cronkite News Service that “Governor Brewer has made it clear that she has different views than Governor Napolitano did on a number of issues, including the life issue.”
