Senate back in, debating motion…

When the Senate returned from its break, Sen. Dean Cameron, R-Rupert, said, “I want to withdraw my question.” He said, “I recognize that this is a very, very difficult bill, it’s a very emotional bill. And certainly everything that’s tied around the Affordable Care Act is emotional and personal. … But I’m going to ask you not to send this to the 14 ^th Order. … That is not a very thoughtful process in ways to develop legislation. The more thoughtful process is to run it through committees … where members of the public can come and testify and can come and express their concerns.”

Cameron read from letters from pro-life groups saying that Idaho has prohibited abortion coverage in its insurance exchange legislation, and lauding the state for the move; state law would have the same restriction under either a federal or state-run exchange, he said. He also read from an Attorney General’s opinion about the two drugs to which Nuxoll referred, stating that they are FDA approved only as contraceptives, not as abortifascients. “That’s a federal problem,” Cameron said. “No state law will trump federal law. No state provision will cause that to be changed in any way, shape or form.”