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House accepts technical physician‑language amendments and approves Senate Bill 60 after reconsideration
Summary
After the Senate signaled non‑concurrence on earlier House amendments, the House receded, reconsidered and adopted pink‑sheet wording clarifying that the 24‑hour clock may be started by an attending or referring physician; the House approved Senate Bill 60 as amended, 68‑7.
Senate Bill 60 (an abortion‑act revision) returned to the House Feb. 17 after the Senate communicated that it would not concur with prior House amendments. House sponsors moved to recede from those amendments and to reconsider the bill to allow technical corrections.
During floor consideration, members proposed specific pink‑sheet changes to physician language on page 4: the body removed wording that referred only to 'that physician' and inserted 'the attending or referring physician' to reflect a prior compromise over who can start a 24‑hour clock in the clinical process. Representative Atkinson said the referring physician had been intended to be included in earlier compromises and urged adoption of the clarification; the House adopted the amendment.
With the pink‑sheet changes accepted and summation waived, voting on SB60 as amended produced 68 affirmative and 7 negative votes. The House passed the bill as amended and will return it to the Senate for consideration of the House's adopted changes.
Sponsor and backers characterized the wording changes as technical and part of restoring earlier compromises; floor debate focused on drafting clarity rather than reopening the policy substance of the bill. The House’s action followed a sequence of procedural steps: the Senate’s message of non‑concurrence, a motion to recede, and a motion to reconsider so the House could make the corrections.
