HB 522 - MEDICAID PAYMENTS FOR ABORTION CHAIR DYSON announced that the final order of business would be HOUSE BILL NO. 522, "An Act relating to medical services under the state Medicaid program." Number 0063 CHAIR DYSON presented HB 522. He explained that it is an attempt for the legislature to define which class of abortions will and will not be paid for with public funds and set some limits on what is classified as medical necessity. There have been several efforts by the legislature to set the elective abortion funding policy in the appropriation process and one or two court challenges in the six years that he's been here. He explained that this bill and its companion bill in the Senate tries to meet the criteria that were set forth in the court cases and to follow the guidelines set out in the federal legislation, in the Hyde Amendment, in which public money will be used for funding abortions if the pregnancy is a result of rape and incest, and if the life of the mother is at stake. In his view, the "life of the mother" has been expanded to the "life and health of the mother," and the question has become: What are medically necessary abortions in order to protect the health of the mother? CHAIR DYSON said he thinks the whole subject of abortion is painful. No matter which side people take, he said that he knows of no one who wants there to be abortions. His understanding of the issue is: If it is an elective abortion and the life of the mother is not in question, should public funds be used to pay for the abortion; and Should people who have an absolute moral repugnance to taking the life of an unborn child be forced to participate with their money in something that is not necessary to protect the life of the mother? He concluded that this legislation tries to define what abortions will be paid for that are on that edge. CHAIR DYSON announced that due to technical difficulties with the teleconference, HB 522 would be held over.