Legislature(1993 - 1994)
02/10/1993 01:39 PM Senate JUD
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* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
SENATOR TAYLOR called the meeting to order at 1:39 p.m. and announced SB 53 ANNULLING ABORTION FUNDING REGULATIONS to be up for consideration, but that he didn't intend on taking action at this meeting. He said he would begin by taking testimony from teleconference sites. BONNIE JACK, Coalition of Alaskans for Choice, said she was representing herself. She supported SB 53. She urged a fair and speedy progress. SENATOR DONLEY said he would be proposing amendments to SB 53 to make this a permanent fix to the problem by putting it in statute that this would be pursuant to federal law that folks would be eligible for this assistance under medicaid. He asked her if she thought it should be dealt with in regulation or statute. MS.JACK said abortion should be fair, safe, and legal. If a rich woman can have an abortion, a poor one should be able to, also. Number 160 RUTH EWIG, Fairbanks, opposed SB 53 and read a statement prepared by the Chairman of the Women's Commission which opposed SB 53 because human life is precious. It begins at conception and should be valued, nurtured, and protected. The mental and physical well-being of women is of great importance to this Board. Abortion has serious side effects for women. MS. EWIG read her own statement which was opposed to SB 53. She drew a parallel between slavery and abortion. She thought it was time to take another statewide vote on this issue. She said 7 - 10 other people were faxing testimony against this bill. Number 271 TERESA CREVIER, Ketchikan, opposed SB 53 because it would deny Alaskan children their life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness. She said one of state government's primary functions was to protect life. She requested the Committee to commission a long term study on the effects of abortion on the children who are terminated by it and to find out if the methods used are humane and if this is the most effective population control procedure that's available. Number 300 ALICE YOUNG, opposed SB 53. There are other good options to abortion, she said. DOUGLAS MERWIN, Kenai, opposed SB 53. He did not want abortions to be fundable under the Department of Health and Social Services. Number 330 AMELIA ENDORF, Juneau, was hear because of the fiscal crisis facing our state. She said there was a program that gave women a choice about their pregnancy was financially decimated. Two out of five counselors remain. Yet it was no hardship to find money to force women to destroy the fragile life they held. Many chose abortion, because they had no other choice. She said within the state abortion was the only option to be funded. Other options were not funded by the state. Abortions should be funded from private donations. Number 350 EILEEN SELF, President, Coalition of Alaskans For Choice, supported passage of SB 53. Number 376 MEG GAYDOSIK, Fairbanks, is a former member of the Alaska Women's Commission. She did not think the testimony heard today from the Women's Commission represented most of Alaskan women. She supported passage of SB 53. Denying women the right to an abortion because of her economic status is simply unacceptable. Abortion must be treated like any other medical procedure. She recommended a film called "Before Abortions Were Legal." It shows how a woman at a particular time in her life will go to any extremes to end an unwanted pregnancy - to the point of laying down her life. On the other hand, at a point later in her life, if she decides she wants to bear a child, she will also willingly lay down her life to bring that child into the world. Number 422 CHARLES GASS, Ketchikan, opposed SB 53. He had statistics that he thought showed in the years prior to Roe v. Wade either illegal abortions were extremely safe or that there just weren't that many performed. By funding abortion for the poor, you are increasing the number of abortions and perpetuating a lifestyle of irresponsible sexual behavior and government dependency. He said they should promote policies aimed at education for preventing unwanted pregnancies. Number 448 MARY SOLTIS, Sitka, said the law justifies abortion by saying that life inside the womb is not yet human. In doing this, they set a quality standard for justifying whether a life needs to be protected. She said the weakest members of our society are being killed by the strongest majority. Abortion is the ultimate despair. It is a depraved act of hopelessness. She said if a vote to pass SB 53 is their vote to pay for the killing of these innocent children, she wants them to kill the bill. Number 489 PATRICIA MERWIN, Soldotna, felt strongly that the state of Alaska should not fund abortions. She felt that at the moment of conception a child has its own DNA structure and is just as viable as she is. The child's right to live supersedes constitutionally the mother's right to privacy. Number 530 HELEN ALTEN, President, American Association of University Women Alaska Division, said she represented about 300 university educated women in Alaska. She read testimony written by Marcia McKenzie, representing Juneau Coalition For Pro-Choice which has over 400 supporters in the Juneau area, supporting SB 53. Women are entitled to freedom of choice in their reproductive life. This choice should not be limited because a woman has little or no income. The statement she read from her organization concurred with Ms. McKenzie's statement. Number 578 SUE MILLER, Juneau, said she is pro-life. She believes funding for abortions should be restricted. Her niece had an abortion when she was 16 which her family didn't know about. She didn't have a choice because a person gave her direction to this ready access that government supplied. TAPE 93-8, SIDE B Number 584 When she turned 22 she realized that a baby's heart beat could be detected at 3 weeks. MS. MILLER recounted the experience she had in Valdez where three girls in her high school class were pregnant and the whole community of 550 people rallied around the girls and became their extended family. She thought the subject of abortion or life belonged in the private sector. Number 536 SID HEIDERSDORF told the Committee about a video on abortion that he wanted to show. It had no sound so that those who did not want to, would not be forced to see or hear it. He said using euphemisms, like termination of pregnancy, promoted denial. SENATOR TAYLOR said he didn't want to stop the flow of testimony, but when they were done he would allow the video to be shown. Mr. Heidersdorf is unalterably opposed to abortion. He is for the rights of women, but he recognizes that rights are not absolutes. The infant's right to life takes precedent over any life based on convenience or any other justification. Number 467 PAT DENNY, Juneau, opposed SB 53. She is a social worker who has worked with all kinds of women. She would go into homes where people said it was their right to do whatever they wanted to their children. She said in our society we protect our children. Number 438 SUE HECKE, Juneau, is opposed to SB 53. She just spent a year in Romania in orphanages. She said the value of life was such that women would have babies and abandon them rather than have an abortion. She thought that most of the testimony on this issue was coming from white middle class females and some males. She hadn't heard the poor come forth. In another meeting there was testimony from a woman with 8 children who came from a mother of 12 children. She was very glad they didn't believe in abortion. She thought that poor people should be more involved in this legislation, because it concerned them. Number 401 ELMER LINDSTROM, Special Assistant, Department of Health and Social Services, provided the Committee with a position paper and a fiscal note. He said he would be available to answer questions. Number 379 CATHY POLK, Juneau, opposed SB 53. Through research she found that 5,000 babies were killed daily. A lot of them in the second trimester. She is a Christian and is against the taking of life. Children are not protected until they are out of the womb. Rather than pass this bill she thought they should look for another way to help pregnant women. Number 357 SHERRIE GOLL, Alaska Women's Lobby, supported SB 53 and the language from SB 55 that would amend SB 53 to preclude the regulations from being reintroduced immediately after being annulled. She said the state would be hearing from poor women who have a lawsuit against the state. MS. GOLL said there are privacy issues involved in the regulations, because they do allow some women to have abortions if they are the victims of rape or incest. SENATOR TAYLOR asked if the suit she referred to was the one entitled Planned Parenthood of Alaska, Inc. v. et all v. Theodore A. Mala. She said that was the one she referred to. Number 301 MYRNA MAYNARD, Anchorage, testified in favor of SB 53. She thought the regulations were issued by the Governor in order to appease the extreme right wing constituency that elected him. The poor women of the state should be afforded the right to have an abortion, too. Governor Hickel should support education of contraception. Number 249 KRIS GROSE, Alaska Interior Right to Life, Fairbanks, opposed SB 53. She thought some of the Governor's regulations were ambiguous and the definition of terms needed to be ironed out. For instance the definition for "termination deemed medically necessary" and "endanger the mother's life" needed to be specified. We have to legislate morality to keep our society from tearing itself apart. Number 221 SHARON HARPER, Ketchikan, said she was having trouble with the word termination which she thought was the same as murder. She absolutely objected to tax money being spent for anything like murder. She thought many people viewed abortion as a form of birth control. She opposed SB 53. LOUISE MATHEWS, Sitka, opposed SB 53. She said killing the unborn is a human sacrifice and is used for birth control, sex selection, and convenience. Number 186 MONTE SMITH, Soldotna, opposed SB 53. As a Christian he has strong personal and moral objections to abortion. Who is going to finance the cost of operating the government if you allow the wholesale butchering of the next generation. Number 162 RANDALL BURNS, Executive Director, Alaskan Affiliate of the Alaska Civil Liberties Union, opposed the regulation changes from the Hickel administration that would deny any Alaskan woman on public assistance the right to terminate her pregnancy, because it is unconstitutional. They, therefore, support passage of SB 53. State policy should support women, not subjugate them. SENATOR TAYLOR noted that he had a copy of the complaint Mr. Burns had filed. MIKE PRAX, Fairbanks, said funding abortions was like condoning them and he didn't think that was right. As a society, we have to take responsibility for our actions. Number 75 KATHLEEN TOOLE, Ketchikan, opposed SB 53. Unborn children need their chance at life. She does not want her tax dollars to be used in this way. Number 59 VIRGINIA PHILLIPS, Sitka, had an abortion because of a childhood fever. She suffered physically and emotionally from it. Her daughter when she was 16 chose to complete her pregnancy and now she is a very successful and happy person. She said the abortion procedure is a rape of a woman's body. TAPE 93-9, SIDE A Number 001 MS. PHILLIPS said she is highly opposed to SB 53 and is opposed to the amendment. Number 35 NANCY ODOM, Fairbanks, opposed SB 53. We are human beings from the very beginning. She said according to Planned Parenthood 98% of the abortions performed are for convenience. The state has exceeded its legitimate function when it pays for the services of the assassination of one person for the convenience of another. Number 47 HEATHER MUENCH, Ketchikan, believed that every woman at some time in her life has an unwanted, unplanned pregnancy. Women have the right to make a choice. She urged passage of SB 53. SENATOR TAYLOR asked SID HEIDERSDORF to show his video at this time. MR. HEIDERSDORF explained that it was entitled "Hard Truth" and was 7 minutes long. He wanted everyone to ask themselves if this is something the state should pay for. Number 239 DEBORAH LUPER said after seeing the film, she couldn't believe the procedure was still legal. Abortion is wrong. It kills a life, a life that our U.S. Constitution is supposed to protect.
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