Page 2 - aruba-today-20190309

A2 UP FRONT
Saturday 9 March 2019
GOP state lawmakers approve ‘heartbeat’abortion bans

By BEN NADLER, KIMBERLEE Women in Georgia can
KRUESI and SANYA MAN- currently seek an abortion
SOOR during the first 20 weeks of
Associated Press a pregnancy. A fetal heart-
ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia beat is generally detect-
and Tennessee joined a able at around six weeks,
string of states moving to before many women know
enact tough abortion re- they are pregnant.
strictions when Republican The bill would make excep-
House lawmakers passed tions in the case of rape
bans on most abortions af- and incest, but only when
ter a fetal heartbeat can the woman files a police
be detected. report first. It also allows for
During a tense debate in abortions when the fetus is
Atlanta on Thursday, sever- determined to be not com-
al Democratic lawmakers patible with life due to seri-
opposed to the bill turned ous medical issues.
their backs to its author, Setzler previously said he
Republican Rep. Ed Set- had “misgivings” about
zler. Earlier in the day, some those exceptions, saying
Democratic lawmakers that “those children are just
brought in wire coat hang- as innocent as others.”
ers in reference to unsafe Republican Rep. Darlene
home abortions. Taylor asked a rhetorical
Setzler said his bill “seeks to question: “Who speaks for
recognize that the child in baby fetus?”
the womb, that is living dis- Protesters from Planned Parenthood and other groups gather in front of the Tennessee House “Today I do,” Taylor an-
tinct from their mother, has chamber to oppose a so-called fetal heartbeat bill before the vote, Thursday, March 7, 2019 in swered, as she read a pre-
a right to life that is worthy Nashville, Tenn. pared speech as if she was
of legal protection.” Associated Press a baby fetus that did not
The Tennessee House states including Mississippi, approval and are signed of women to abort a fetus want to be aborted.
passed similar legislation Florida, Kentucky, Ohio into law, they would trig- that can’t survive outside “We know that this bill is
earlier Thursday after its and South Carolina are ger immediate legal chal- the womb. unconstitutional. We know
Republican supermajority also considering this type lenges. Democratic Rep. Renitta that there are going to be
forced an end to debate of legislation. Several women held a si- Shannon, speaking against huge costs to litigate this,”
without letting some Dem- If the measures in Georgia lent protest on the steps of the bill and about her own Wilensky said.
ocrats speak. Several other and Tennessee win Senate Georgia’s Capitol on Friday past abortion, went over The fast-tracked bill came
dressed as characters from time and her microphone to the floor in the final min-
“The Handmaid’s Tale,” was cut off. She refused utes before a legislative
which depicts a dystopian to yield the floor until col- deadline by which bills
future where women are leagues surrounded her must generally pass out of
controlled by the govern- and implored her to walk one house or the other to
ment and forcibly used for away. remain in play for the ses-
breeding purposes. Before her microphone was sion.
Abortion opponents across cut, Shannon spoke about Republican Gov. Brian
the country are hopeful the the illegal and unsafe abor- Kemp, who pledged as
U.S. Supreme Court — with tion options women faced a candidate to sign the
new Justices Neil Gorsuch before Roe v. Wade. toughest abortion laws in
and Brett Kavanaugh — “Let’s be clear, no matter the country, endorsed the
will either reverse Roe v. what kind of law you pass proposal in a news confer-
Wade, or uphold specific to outlaw abortions, wom- ence after its passage in
state laws that could un- en will continue to seek the House, but said there
dermine the court’s 1973 and have abortions,” Shan- is more work to be done in
ruling establishing the right non said. the Senate. q

Don’t fall back on springing time

forward this weekend

WASHINGTON (AP) — There’s no time like hour ahead before going to bed Saturday
the present to watch the shifting sands of night.
the hourglass foretell the inevitable for- Daylight will begin to last longer into the
ward march of time. evening, but the sun will take an hour lon-
It’s time again to abide by the old ad- ger to emerge in the morning.
age to spring forward (though it’s not yet No time change is observed in Hawaii,
spring) and mark the shift from standard to most of Arizona, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin
daylight saving time. The change occurs Islands, American Samoa, Guam and the
at 2 a.m. local time Sunday across most Northern Marianas.
of the United States, so set your clocks an Standard time returns Nov. 3.q