Yesterday a Wyoming state House committee voted 5 to 3 to reject a bill that would have prohibited abortion once a fetal heartbeat can be detected.
House Bill 97 was introduced into the Wyoming House Labor Health and Social Services committee yesterday by Representative Kendell Kroeker (R-Evansville). The committee debated for over two hours before rejecting the bill. Many representatives cited legal and medical vagueness as a reason to reject the bill. Representative Mary Throne (D-Cheyenne) questioned "Is this abortion illegal at 22 days with a highly invasive ultrasound or is it illegal at 9 weeks when we hear a heartbeat with a stethoscope?" Republican Representative Norine Kasperik (Gillette) pointed out that during the discussion she also heard different answers for when a heartbeat is detectable. Kasperik said, "These are questions that I feel like I have not heard answers to and have concerns about the vagueness of some of the language within the bill."
Representative Sue Wallis (R-Recluse) shared her own abortion story, which happened when she was facing both a difficult pregnancy and a custody battle for her three children against an abusive ex-husband. "The notion that protected human life begins at the moment of conception is some religious sects' interpretation, certainly not mine" she declared.
Wyoming is not the only state that has considered a ban on abortion once a fetal heartbeat is detected. The Ohio state legislature faced the same decision last year when a heartbeat bill passed the Ohio House of Representatives, but expired in the state Senate without being brought to the floor.
Media Resources: Casper Star-Tribune 1/29/2013; San Francisco Chronicle 1/28/2013; Feminist Newswire 11/28/2012
5/22/2013 Immigration Reform Bill Advances In Senate - Last night, the Senate Judiciary Committee approved a sweeping immigration reform bill in a bipartisan vote of 13 to 5. . . .
5/22/2013 Afghan Women Arrested for 'Moral Crimes' Increases 50% - A new report by the Human Rights Watch shows that in the past 18 months the number of women in Afghanistan incarcerated for 'moral crimes' has increased from 400 to 600, a 50% growth.
Many of the women imprisoned for moral crimes were arrested running away from forced or abusive marriages and families, even though there is no law against leaving. . . .
5/22/2013 Army Commander Suspended for Adultery Amid Wave of Sexual Assaults - On Tuesday, Brigadier General Bryan T Roberts was suspended from his position as commander of the Fort Jackson, South Carolina training camp which trains approximately 60% of incoming female recruits pending an investigation into allegations of adultery.
Roberts was suspended following allegations of "adultery and a physical altercation." Colonel Christian Kubik, an Army spokesperson for the Training and Doctrine Command, told reporters "We don't have any evidence of any sexual assault. . . .
