Arrow-right Camera
The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Clears House Panel

Associated Press

A measure banning so-called “partial-birth” abortions passed a House committee Friday after a backer compared the practice to Nazi atrocities.

The House Law and Justice Committee also held a public hearing on a bill that would require doctors to notify a parent or guardian before performing an abortion on a minor. No vote was taken on that measure.

Rep. Mike Sherstad, R-Kenmore, offended at least one of his colleagues when he told the panel that allowing partial-birth abortions to continue would be tantamount to condoning the medical atrocities Nazis committed during World War II.

“The question in my mind is really not the procedure but if the baby has constitutional rights,” Sherstad said.

Rep. Renee Radcliff, a Mukilteo Republican who described herself as a German Jew, took offense to Sherstad’s comment. She said her father was raised in Germany.

“I don’t know six aunts and uncles … because of government interference,” Radcliff said.

The committee passed the bill on a 7-5 vote with the help of Radcliff, who supports abortion rights.

The bill now goes to the Rules Committee, where it could be scheduled to go before the full House for a vote.

In a partial-birth abortion, which is usually performed late in a pregnancy, doctors partially pull the fetus out, use surgical instruments to make a hole in the skull and remove the brain.

Congress passed a bill last year that would have banned partial-birth abortions, but President Clinton vetoed the measure.

Under the state measure introduced by Rep. Mark Sterk, R-Veradale, a doctor would be allowed to perform a partial-birth abortion only to save a woman’s life and if no other form of abortion could save her.

However, even if consent was given, either parent could sue in civil court for psychological and physical injuries. Statutory damages could equal three times the cost of the partial-birth abortion, but the woman may not be prosecuted for having the abortion.

A provision that would have made it illegal to perform a late-term abortion if the fetus appeared viable was removed from the bill.

Opponents said the measure goes against the initiative that voters approved in 1991 to guarantee the right to have an abortion. The state law already makes it a felony to perform an abortion on a viable fetus for reasons other than protecting a pregnant woman’s life or health.

A similar measure has been introduced in the Senate.

Meanwhile, the committee also heard testimony on a bill sponsored by Rep. Marc Boldt, R-Brush Prairie, that would require parental notification before a minor could have an abortion.

“I bring this bill for the safety and compassion of young ladies,” Boldt told the committee.

Under his bill, HB1036, a doctor must notify the minor’s guardian either in person or by phone at least 48 hours before the abortion.

If the youth states in writing that she is a victim of abuse or neglect, the notice must be given to a sibling who is over the age of 21 or to a stepparent or grandparent. Notice would not be needed in an emergency situation.

In other developments:

Sex offenders

Following California’s lead, some Washington lawmakers want to make sex offenders get hormone shots to dampen their sex drives, a procedure called “chemical castration.”

Friday’s filing of a Senate bill, SB5352, marks the return of an issue that provoked sharp debate but little action at the 1990 Legislature.

The measure would allow judges to require violent sex offenders to receive the hormone shots after serving a full sentence in cases where medical experts testified that the hormone, Depo-Provera, would be effective.

“We have real hope it will become law,” said Sen. Don Benton, R-Vancouver.

He noted that California Gov. Pete Wilson last year signed into law a measure requiring that weekly injections of the hormone be given molesters convicted a second time of assaulting children under 13. The injections are given following release from prison.

Similar legislation is being considered in Florida, Texas, Massachusetts, Idaho and Wisconsin.

Under Benton’s measure, which is co-sponsored by Sen. Jim Hargrove, D-Hoquiam, a judge could sentence people convicted of first- or second-degree rape of an adult, or first-degree rape of a child to receive the hormone shots upon release from prison. The shots could be required for any length of time, including for life.

Rape and drugs

A person who uses a drug to incapacitate another in the course of a sexual attack could face a second-degree rape charge under a bill sponsored by Sen. Darlene Fairley, D-Lake Forest Park.

“This adds to the definition of rape the use of a drug that renders a victim helpless by the rapist. … Before we didn’t have the notion within the definition,” Fairley said.

Second-degree rape, which carries a penalty of up to 5-1/2 years in prison for a first-time offender, covers situations in which victims are physically or mentally incapacitated, or feel they are in a physically or life-threatening situation.

Fairley’s bill, SB5304, was introduced this week and sent to the Senate Law and Justice Committee.

In October, President Clinton outlawed Rohypnol and other “date-rape drugs.” The federal law also calls for a 20-year sentence for using an illegal drug as a tool of rape or other violent crime, as well as possession, manufacture or distribution of an illegal drug with intent to use it to commit a violent crime. Simple possession of Rohypnol, with no proven intent, carries up to three years in prison.

Tax cut

Legislative Republicans on Friday set in motion a proposal to ask voters to make permanent a modest property tax cut, a reduction vetoed Wednesday by Gov. Gary Locke as too little relief for homeowners.

The House sent to the Senate a bill that would retain the 1995 tax cut for just this year, as requested by Locke. But the bill also would put a referendum before voters in November asking if they want the cut to be permanent.

The Senate is expected to approve the measure, HB1275, on Monday and send it to Locke.

The governor said through press aide Carolyn Duncan that he would sign the bill, knowing that it would make the temporary reduction the law in time for assessors to get it onto tax bills going out next month.

The 4.7 percent reduction in the state’s share of the property tax, would mean a tax savings of about $18 a year for the owner of a $100,000 home. It would cost about $65 million a year.

Campground reservations

Members of the state Parks and Recreation Commission said Thursday they have learned from earlier mistakes and believe they have come up with a better way to make campground reservations by telephone.

The biggest change over last year is an increase in the number of operators taking calls at Reservations Northwest - up to 40 from 32, which is supposed to cut down on the number of complaints about busy signals.

The commission agreed to stick with the combined reservation system for the states of Oregon and Washington - which began in January 1996 - at least until October, when the commission will review the program again.

Also new this year, the reservation operators will let campers select their own campsites. Last year, campers had a site assigned to them.