The new Republican-controlled Alabama Senate rushed through a package of bills Tuesday designed to make it tougher to get an abortion in the state and to define that life begins with fertilization and implantation in the womb.
The lopsided votes on the five bills were a dramatic departure from the old Democrat-controlled Senate, when abortion bills usually died in committee. The votes came after Republicans cut off stalling tactics by some Democrats.
"Today was historic," Republican Sen. Phil Williams of Rainbow City said.
The Senate voted 25-7 for one bill that would block abortion coverage by any health insurance plan that participates in a health insurance exchange the state is supposed to set up under the federal health care law. By the same vote, it approved a bill prohibiting health insurance plans in Alabama from offering coverage of elective abortions as part of their basic policies. People could still buy coverage as a separate insurance rider.
The Senate voted 23-7 for Williams' bill providing that the word "persons" in state laws "shall include any human being from the moment of fertilization and implantation in the womb."
A bill to require a doctor to perform an ultrasound on a pregnant woman before performing an abortion sailed through 26-3. The bill provides the doctor must show the ultrasound images to the woman and explain what they mean — a require proponents hope will cause the woman to change her mind.
By a 26-6 tally, the Senate approved a measure requiring a doctor to examine a woman in person before prescribing an abortion-inducting drug and to do a follow-up visit.
All five bills now go to the House with six meeting days left in the 2011 session. They must be passed by the House and signed by the governor to become law.
http://www.cnbc.com/id/43154496/Alabama_Senate_approves_abortion_related_bills
