Planned Parenthood Challenging Alaska Law Limiting Elective Abortions
Photo Credit: Catholic Anchor Planned Parenthood is in court this week challenging a state law that prohibits Alaska abortion practitioners from being reimbursed by the state for performing “elective” abortions which are not done to preserve the life or physical health of the mother.
With the help of ACLU of Alaska, Planned Parenthood is arguing for why the law should be overturned. The case, Planned Parenthood v Davidson, is being argued before Anchorage Superior Court Judge John Suddock, who put the law on hold last summer until Planned Parenthood had an opportunity to argue its case in court.
Supporters of the law note that it closes loopholes that have been exploited by abortion practitioners to gain public funding for “elective” abortions.
The law clarifies when an abortion is considered “medically necessary” under the law and thus eligible for state funding, versus when the procedure is considered merely “elective.”
As in other states, Alaska is subject to the long-standing federal law — the Hyde Amendment — that stipulates that federal dollars can only pay for abortions in cases of rape, incest or to preserve the mother’s life. But if none of those conditions apply, abortion practitioners in Alaska have been able to simply claim that an abortion was “medically necessary” and general funds from the state would then pay for abortions of low-income women on Medicaid.
Prior to 2001, Alaska was only required to pay for abortions where the life of the mother was endangered or the pregnancy was the result of rape or incest, consistent with federal law.
Then in 2001, the Alaska Supreme Court ruled that Alaska must use state funds to pay for all “medically necessary” abortions even if the federal government would not. As a result, for the last 12 years, Alaska has paid for all abortions requested by abortion practitioners without ever defining the term “medically necessary.”
In clarifying when an abortion is deemed “medically necessary” Senate Bill 49 stated that the condition is met when there is a “serious risk to the pregnant woman of death; or impairment of a major bodily function.”
Psychological or mental health threats are not covered as medically necessary reasons for an abortion.
But not all pro-life advocates are supportive of the new law. Most notably, Alaska Right to Life issued a strong statement against the legislation because it specifically excludes unborn babies who are conceived in rape or incest.
But one of the most prominent pro-life organizations in the state, Alaska Family Action, supported passage of the law, calling it a “common sense measure that simply requires physicians to describe why they are determining that a procedure is medically necessary.”
Abortion supporters such as Planned Parenthood, the largest provider of abortions in the nation, opposed the law and with the legal aid of ACLU of Alaska is asking the court to overturn the law.
The public is free to attend the court sessions each day from 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. According to ACLU of Alaska, Planned Parenthood’s main doctor in the trial, Dr. Jan Whitefield, is scheduled to testify on Friday. Closing arguments are expected to happen next Thursday or Friday. (“Planned Parenthood Challenging Alaska Law Limiting Elective Abortions”, originally posted HERE, reposted with permission)
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