Senator Brian Townsend has introduced SB5 which would align Delaware’s current (and unconstitutional) abortion law with Roe v Wade. Sen. Margaret Rose Henry, Rep. Debra Heffernan and Rep. Valerie Maglio Longhurst join in as additional Sponsors of this legislation.
The United States Supreme Court’s decisions in Roe v. Wade and subsequent cases established that access to abortion is a constitutional right and that states may not prohibit abortion prior to viability. As a result of these decisions, and the exercise of prosecutorial discretion by the Attorney General, see Del. Op. Att’y Gen. No. 73-030, § III (Apr. 12, 1973), the Delaware Code’s prohibitions against abortion are unconstitutional, and thus unenforceable. This Act modernizes Delaware’s laws on abortion to be consistent with the scope of the right protected by the United States Constitution and the practice in Delaware for the past 43 years. In doing so, this Act permits the termination of a pregnancy prior to viability, to protect the life or health of the mother, or in the event of serious fetal anomaly.
UPDATED: 6/8/17
SPONSORS: Townsend, Henry, Heffernan, Longhurst, Bushweller, Cloutier, Hansen, McDowell, Poore, Sokola, Baumbach, Bentz, Hudson, Kowalko, Lynn, Osienski, Paradee, B. Short, Viola
YES VOTES: SENATE: Bushweller, Cloutier, Ennis, Hansen, Henry, McBride, McDowell, Poore, Sokola, Townsend, Walsh. HOUSE: B. Short, Baumbach, Bennett, Bentz, Bolden, Carson, Heffernan, K. Williams, Keeley, Kowalko, Longhurst, Lynn, M. Smith, Matthews, Mitchell, Mulrooney, Osienski, Paradee, Potter, Q. Johnson, Schwartzkopf, Viola
NO VOTES: SENATE: DelCollo, Hocker, Lawson, Lopez, Pettyjohn, Richardson, Simpson [Bonini was absent, Lavelle and Marshall did not vote]. HOUSE: Brady, Briggs King, Collins, D. Short, Dukes, Gray, Hensley, Jaques, Kenton, Miro, Outten, Postles, Ramone, Smyk, Spiegelman, Yearick [Absent: Hudson, J.Johnson, Wilson]
HISTORY: Passed the Senate 11-7-1-2. Passed the House 22-16-3.
STATUS: Waiting to be signed by Governor Carney
Is the Hudson listed as a cosponser Deborah Hudson? I can’t think of any other GA members with that name so I assume it would have to be, but the name is colored to seem like a Democrat.
You are right — I fixed it. That was bad cut and paste on my part, thanks for catching it!
Who will protect the rights of a living human-being who cannot speak for themselves? 60 million slaughtered since roe v wade….99% for convenience not life threatening to woman…..how long will women lie to themselves about life?
What exactly are those rights, and when do they begin? When do they trump the rights of the host organism?
Nice job removing the man from the “lying”. You do know that most couples reach the decision together.
The only lie I see happening is men like you who refuse to take responsibility for the fact that if you want to have control over your sperm’s fate, keep your sperm to yourself.