The Chronicle

A bill introduced into the state House of Representatives, and sponsored by 19th District Rep. Jim Walsh, seeks to bar state employees from having abortions covered under their insurance plans or receiving any treatment from facilities that provide abortions.

House Bill 1002 also seeks to bar the state from contracting with any agency that provides or is remotely connected with providing abortions.

The bill would make exceptions only for abortions deemed “medically necessary.”

This term would mean, under the bill, an abortion necessary and determined by the patient’s primary care physician to protect the woman from “imminent danger of a serious physical disorder, illness or injury.”

It would also bar the state from providing contracts, grants or funding to any organizations that provide abortions not defined as “medically necessary.”

The wording is broadly defined to include organizations that not only directly provide abortion services, but any that are indirectly affiliated with said organizations.

This would mean public employees could not use their insurance to receive any health care from any organization that provides abortions.

Further, it would seek to request that the federal government rewrite their coverage to follow similar guidelines.

The bill is currently in the Health Care and Wellness subcommittee.

A related bill, titled HB 1003, would require that the parents of minors seeking an abortion must have their parents or guardians notified of the procedure, or obtain a court order to allow the procedure to proceed without parental consent.