SB 53: ANNULLING ABORTION FUNDING REGULATIONS Number 767 CHAIRMAN PORTER announced that the committee would take up SB 53 next. He commented that SB 53 had received a great deal of testimony from around the state. He said that there were no significant legal questions surrounding the bill. Consequently, he invited each member to give a statement on his or her position on the bill, if they so desired, and then a vote could be taken on whether or not to move the bill out of committee. Number 783 REPRESENTATIVE GREEN commented that publicly-funded elective abortions were inconsistent with the legislature's efforts to cut the budget. Number 799 REPRESENTATIVE KOTT agreed with Representative Green's remarks. He stated that abortion funding and unwanted pregnancies were part of a larger and growing problem. Number 811 REPRESENTATIVE JAMES indicated that she had never supported public funding for elective abortions. She recognized that abortions required for medical or psychological reasons should be treated like any other medical procedure, however. She opposed SB 53, and echoed Representative Green's comment that supporting publicly-funded elective abortions would be inconsistent with other budget-cutting actions taken by the legislature this year. TAPE 93-58, SIDE B Number 000 CHAIRMAN PORTER commented that he had had personal experiences in his background which required him to support SB 53. He stated that abortion had been a felony crime in Alaska when he first worked as a police officer. He said that he had investigated illegal abortions, and said that the state should never go back to the days of "back-room" abortions. He believed that not publicly funding abortions for poor women would make them susceptible to "back-room" abortions. Number 028 REPRESENTATIVE PHILLIPS chose not to comment at this time. Number 029 REPRESENTATIVE NORDLUND took issue with Representative Green's and Representative Kott's comments regarding the costs of SB 53. He said that if SB 53 was not enacted, the state would face tremendous downstream health care, criminal justice, and social service costs. He said that SB 53 sets up two classes of people: poor women who would not be able to get abortions and women who could afford to get abortions. He believed that was fundamentally wrong. He supported the bill. Number 061 REPRESENTATIVE CLIFF DAVIDSON said that he had no statement to make. Number 065 REPRESENTATIVE NORDLUND made a MOTION to MOVE SB 53 out of committee. REPRESENTATIVE JAMES OBJECTED. A roll call vote was taken on moving SB 53 out of committee. Representatives Nordlund, Davidson, and Porter voted "YEA." Representatives Green, Kott, Phillips, and James voted "NAY." And so, the bill FAILED TO MOVE out of committee. CHAIRMAN PORTER announced that the committee would take up SB 122 next.