Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Abortion Policy topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
House suspends rules to place informed-consent bill on top of third-reading calendar
Summary
The House voted to suspend rules and place Second Substitute House Bill 129 (informed consent for abortion) at the top of the third-reading calendar after a divisional roll and members arriving; the motion passed 51–24 following a debate focused on face-to-face consent and concerns about telephone counseling.
Representative Filpack moved to suspend the rules so Second Substitute House Bill 129, concerning informed consent in abortion care, could be placed at the top of the third-reading calendar. Members debated whether the existing statute and recent court rulings require face-to-face informed consent and whether telephone counseling could create a loophole.
Proponents argued a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling and a referenced "Benson" decision support limiting informed consent to face-to-face interactions. A member on the floor said the attorney general's office had prepared a fiscal note and advised the bill's constitutionality as read from the record.
Opponents raised procedural fairness concerns about lifting bills out of rules, noting that doing so requires a two-thirds constitutional threshold. The Speaker and members proceeded with a division and call of the house to await additional members. After members arrived and the call was lifted, the Speaker announced the motion had received 51 affirmative votes and 24 negative votes, and the House ordered Second Substitute HB 129 to the top of the third-reading calendar.
The transcript records debate invoking the need for face-to-face counseling and concern that telephone counseling could allow non-patients to receive information. The House did not take a final vote on the underlying bill in this session excerpt; the action recorded is the procedural lifting from rules to placement on the calendar.
