California can test federal abortion law
THE SACRAMENTO BEE
June 30, 2005
A federal judge has refused to dismiss California's lawsuit against the Bush administration over a federal abortion law that threatens the state with huge financial penalties if it discriminates against health care providers who do not perform abortions or make abortion referrals.
The law was part of a $388 billion spending bill signed by President Bush in December. The suit, filed in January by Attorney General Bill Lockyer and state school Superintendent Jack O'Connell, contends the law would coerce California into ignoring one of its own abortion laws in order to preserve $49 billion in federal funds. Supporters of the federal measure say it will prevent states from punishing health care providers who have moral objections to abortion.
California, like most states, allows doctors and hospitals to refuse to perform abortions for religious or moral reasons. But a state law requires them to provide abortions, despite their objections, in an emergency in which childbirth would threaten the woman's life or health.
The state's suit argues that the new law, which contains no exception for medical emergencies, would effectively prohibit California from enforcing its emergency-care law against unwilling doctors and hospitals. That, the state argues, would violate California's constitutional authority and a woman's right to an abortion. The ruling was made Monday by U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White.
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