Napolitano continues defense of abortion rights
April 4th, 2008, 5:16 pm · Post a Comment · posted by Le Templar
Gov. Janet Napolitano
Gov. Janet Napolitano’s veto today of two more abortion-related bills is a surprise only to the uninitiated who pay no attention to this emotional, keystone issue.
Napolitano is generally viewed as a moderate Democrat, but clearly falls in her party’s mainstream on abortion, which is somewhat to the left of the general public’s views. Abortion rights weren’t a strong theme during Napolitano’s 2002 campaign for governor or her re-election lap in 2006. But she has consistently said she will oppose any additional restrictions on access to abortions.
Napolitano’s promise seems to extend to any bill remotely related to abortion that supported by the Center for Arizona Policy and passed mostly by anti-abortion lawmakers.
As for the two latest bills, Napolitano admits in her veto message that HB2263 would put in state statute some standards for minors getting abortions without a parent’s consent that the courts already have adopted through case law. If HB2263 doesn’t change anything, the politically savvy move might have been to let the bill become law without the governor’s signature as a token gesture to abortion foes and to those who want abortions available only a limited basis.
But putting the standards into state law might make it harder to expand abortion rights for minors at a later date. And the Center of Arizona Policy has pushed for this bill for three years, which scares the heck out of abortion rights supporters.Meanwhile, HB2769 is supposed to simply mirror a recent federal law banning partial-birth abortions, so state prosecutors could pursue criminal charges in state courts. But Napolitano said the bill doesn’t clearly let accused doctors use expert witnesses to testify that a partial-birth abortion was necessary to save a woman’s life. She’s really reaching for straw with that argument, because HB2769 doesn’t forbid the use of such expert witnesses, either.Napolitano also noted a prison sentence from a conviction under HB2769 wouldn’t be limited to two years, as one is under federal law. It’s hard to imagine that a doctor would be more willingly to risk a felony conviction because it carried only two years in prison.The state constitution put no restricts on the governor’s motivations for vetoing a bill. She just has to explain her objections in writing. Perhaps when it comes to abortion matters, Napolitano would be more honest if she said she doesn’t trust the people who sponsor the bills that have been landing on her desk.
