SJR 13-CONST. AM: PROHIBIT ABORTION/FUNDING                                                                       
                                                                                                                                
2:46:01 PM                                                                                                                    
CHAIR COGHILL  announced that the  final order of  business would                                                               
be SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO.  13, Proposing an amendment to the                                                               
Constitution of the State of Alaska relating to abortion.                                                                       
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR COGHILL announced  that public testimony was  opened at the                                                               
last hearing.                                                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                
2:46:48 PM                                                                                                                    
KAREN LEWIS, Pro  Life Alaska, Wasilla, Alaska,  spoke in support                                                               
of SJR  13. She stated that  Thomas Jefferson said that  the care                                                               
of  human life  and happiness  and not  their destruction  is the                                                               
first and only  legitimate object of good  government. She quoted                                                               
the Declaration of  Independence and the Bible  to illustrate her                                                               
point. She  related her daughter's  decision to continue  with an                                                               
unwed pregnancy  and posited that  young women can  have children                                                               
and attend school at the same time.                                                                                             
                                                                                                                                
2:49:32 PM                                                                                                                    
CATHY  LAW,  representing  self,   Anchorage,  Alaska,  spoke  in                                                               
support of SJR  13, which would add language  to the Constitution                                                               
of  the  State of  Alaska  that  says,  "To protect  human  life,                                                               
nothing  in  this constitution  may  be  construed to  secure  or                                                               
protect a  right to an abortion  or require the State  to fund an                                                               
abortion." The resolution would ensure  that there is no right to                                                               
an abortion in the Constitution of  the State of Alaska. It would                                                               
allow  Alaskans  to  establish  laws  on  abortion  that  reflect                                                               
Alaskans' values.  She offered her  view that the  Alaska Supreme                                                               
Court  decisions invented  the right.  It was  illegal in  Alaska                                                               
from statehood until the Court decided otherwise.                                                                               
                                                                                                                                
2:51:06 PM                                                                                                                    
SERENA  O'HARA-JOLLEY,  representing   self,  Fairbanks,  Alaska,                                                               
spoke  in opposition  to SJR  13.  She said  that Alaskans  value                                                               
their  independence  and   individual  choices.  An  overwhelming                                                               
number of  Alaskans support  the right to  access safe  and legal                                                               
abortions. She  found amending the  Constitution of the  State of                                                               
Alaska to  change the right to  privacy unacceptable. Legislators                                                               
took an oath  to uphold the Constitution of the  State of Alaska,                                                               
but not to amend it to suit their moral values., she said.                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
2:53:12 PM                                                                                                                    
MARCI  HAWKINS,  representing  self,  Sutton,  Alaska,  said  she                                                               
opposes SJR  13. She  expressed concern that  this would  lead to                                                               
criminalizing  abortion. She  supports women  being able  to make                                                               
their own medical decisions.                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
2:55:05 PM                                                                                                                    
WENDY  PERKINS, representing  self, Anchorage,  Alaska, spoke  in                                                               
support of  SJR 13. She  argued against using a  privacy argument                                                               
regarding abortion.  She does not  want one branch  of government                                                               
to be too strong. She said  that it is dangerous for the judicial                                                               
branch to interpret the right to privacy to extend to abortion.                                                                 
                                                                                                                                
2:57:00 PM                                                                                                                    
CHERYL  KAJDAN,  representing  self,  Palmer,  Alaska,  spoke  in                                                               
support of  SJR 13. She  said that as  a nation, the  U.S. fights                                                               
for life, liberty,  and the pursuit of happiness.  The changes in                                                               
peoples' moral stances have degraded  general civil behavior. Dr.                                                               
Mildred  Jefferson,  cofounder of  the  national  Right to  Life,                                                               
warned people that abortions would  be used to target the African                                                               
American  community. She  also warned  that  abortion access  for                                                               
poor women would  be used to justify keeping  abortion legal. She                                                               
gave statistics to  support her view. She asked  members to allow                                                               
Alaskans to  have a voice on  this issue, not the  Alaska Supreme                                                               
Court.                                                                                                                          
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR  COGHILL held  SJR 13  in committee  with public  testimony                                                               
open.