Quick News Roundup 07/16/10

Domestic News: In Missouri, without raising a finger the Governor has allowed new legislation to take effect. What legislation? Clinics in Missouri will now be required to perform ultrasounds and allow women to hear the heartbeat of their unborn child prior to performing an abortion. Missouri currently has the 4th most restrictive laws when it comes to abortion, coming in behind North Dakota, Mississippi, and Louisiana. In addition to the ultrasound law, Missouri has become the fifth state to opt-out of abortion funding from the federal health care package passed earlier this year. In Wisconsin, for the first time in a long while, candidates for Governor actively sought out pro-life endorsements. Previous gubernatorial candidates including relatively pro-life former Governor Tommy Thompson did not receive Wisconsin Right to Life’s endorsement. In Nebraska, a federal judge ordered an injunction regarding recently passed abortion legislation. The law would require women seeking abortions to be screened for “physical, psychological, emotional, demographic or situational” risk factors and determine if the women felt pressured into receiving an abortion. Another part of the law, requiring the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services to post a listing of facilities providing counseling to those with mental health issues following an abortion, was not effected by the ruling.

Spanish News: As previously reported, Spanish law was recently modified to allow unrestricted access to abortions within the first 14 weeks of pregnancy. This “right” was also extended to 16 and 17 year old girls without requiring parental consent, parental notification however is required. The more conservative Popular Party had tried to seek a court ordered injunction on the legislation in the Spanish Constitutional Court while they sought an appeal. On Wednesday the court decided not to suspend the new law while hearing the appeals.

Discussion Topic: NICU’s are neo-natal intensive care units. My son was in one for 28 days. In fact, as I pointed out in a comment on the post yesterday, my son was in the NICU that was profiled on discovery health yesterday. Ryan was born 10 weeks early, gestationally he was around 30 weeks old. Currently – he’s 14 months old, in fine health, growing every day and pulling himself up onto furniture. Watching what they can do to save these babies is miraculous and makes me wonder – when will the “when the fetus is able to survive outside the womb” argument for abortion cutoff going to end? Science is getting better every single day and eventually it may get to the point where any premature baby can be saved outside the womb. At that point – the “point of viability” argument ceases to be valid.

Matthew Newman is happily married, a Christian, a new Dad, a pro-life Republican, a New York expatriate, and an environmental engineer in disguise who also blogs at Old Line Elephant