LGC 11.54 — Reproductive Health Reform Act — PASSED

[ZMUN M441]

Reproductive Health Reform Act

to protect the right of women to access safe and legal abortion services

Section I: Repeal

1. L.C. 10.11: Lincoln Pain-Capable Abortion Prohibition and Born Alive Survivor Protection Act Ban is hereby repealed.

Section II: Reform

2. L.C. 6.21: Consolidate Laws of Lincoln Omnibus Act, Title 6, Section 7 shall be amended as follows:

Section 7. Abortion services

(a) In general. —

A licensed or certified health care practitioner acting within his or her lawful scope of practice may perform an abortion when, according to the practitioner's reasonable and professional judgement that —
(1) the patient is within twenty-four weeks from the commencement of pregnancy; or
(2) there is an absence of fetal viability; or
(2) (3) the abortion is necessary to protect the patient's life or physical health.

(b) Protections. —

When any person has had a judgment entered against them, in any region where liability, in whole or in part, is based on the provision for reproductive health care services that are permitted under the laws of this region, such person may recover damages from any party that brought or sought to enforce the action leading to that judgment.

(1) Recoverable damages shall include:
(i)Damages created by the action that led to that judgment.
(ii)Expenses and attorney's fees spent in defending the action that resulted in the judgement's entry.

(2) Medical records and communications related to reproductive health may not be released without written consent of the patient or patient's legal representative.
(i)This shall not be construed to impede the sharing of medical records as permitted by regional or federal law.

(3) No judge or court justice may issue a subpoena requested by a commissioner appointed according to the laws of any other region or government when that subpoena related to reproductive health care services that are permitted under the laws of this region.

(4) No judge may issue a summons in a case where prosecution is pending, or where a grand jury investigation has commenced, for a criminal violation involving reproductive health care services that are permitted under the laws of this region.

Section III: Implementation

1. This act takes effect 60 days following signing by the Governor.

Occupying: Slot 4 of 10
Sponsor: Pyro

[Attorney General, Senator-Elect, & Former PPT Dwarven Dragon]

Strongly urging opposition to this. Lincoln's abortion law is reasonable and constitutional, and was enacted by referendum, with two thirds of the populace voting Aye. It has stayed in place under multiple governors over nearly two years. It has saved lives even beyond the realm of stopping abortions through its criminalization of neglect after botched abortions, while also providing all women a reasonable chance to end their pregnancy.

It is also unclear how repealing this would affect the Hyde amendment language in our budget, which has clarifying language referring to L.C. 10.11

[Pyro]

Thank you, Speaker ZMUN.

The legislation on the floor proposes a balanced and commonsense approach to reproductive health policy.

The rather controversial L.C. 10.11 was enacted in 2021 following the governor's veto, and it significantly restricted abortion access for women, in addition to creating a wide range of criminal penalties for doctors. It is important to emphasize that the introduction of such penalties was, and is, wholly unnecessary. Infanticide is already a criminal offense and in the extraordinarily rare case of a "botched" abortion by a medical professional, those responsible will be held liable for homicide. The issue with Sections 2 through 6 of the original law is that they are designed to intimidate doctors for performing legal reproductive procedures. Removing these will reassure medical professionals and prospective patients that abortion is safe in Lincoln.

This new legislation does not propose a blanket repeal, however. To provide a middle-ground, I have retained the removal of Sec 7a2 of L.C. 6.21 concerning fetal viability. This bill also retains the addition of "physical health" to Sec 7a3. I believe this is a fair approach that will ensure access to reproductive health throughout the region.

Lastly, the proposal outlined in Sec 7b is designed to provide legal protection for women seeking reproductive care in the region of Lincoln. If we are to stand by the right of women to access safe healthcare services, it is my view that the introduction of such legal protections is of paramount importance.

[Mr. Reactionary]

Under federal conflict of laws principles, a judgment in a Region other than Lincoln can not give rise to liability within Lincoln. Lincoln has no personal jurisdiction over a party situate in a different Region, and the filing of a lawsuit outside the territorial bounds of Lincoln is not consent to civil jurisdiction within Lincoln. Further, ignoring the lawful extradition orders of another Region violates the Full Faith and Credit clause of the Constitution. (b) other than (b)(2) is legally dubious at best.

[Pyro]

Under federal conflict of laws principles, a judgment in a Region other than Lincoln can not give rise to liability within Lincoln. Lincoln has no personal jurisdiction over a party situate in a different Region, and the filing of a lawsuit outside the territorial bounds of Lincoln is not consent to civil jurisdiction within Lincoln.

In the event that a region passes a law to allow private right of action for anyone to prosecute any/all reproductive health providers or patients engaged in such services, whether the provider or patient resides in that region or any other, this bill is designed to protect potential Lincolnite victims from that liability. This allows recoverable damages and disallows Lincoln judges from issuing a subpoena or summons based on the laws of another region, or country. This does not permit Lincoln to take personal jurisdiction over the laws of any other region. In other words, a private citizen from another region cannot sue a Lincoln-based healthcare provider for providing abortion services.

Further, ignoring the lawful extradition orders of another Region violates the Full Faith and Credit clause of the Constitution. (b) other than (b)(2) is legally dubious at best.

This does not violate any section of the Constitution.

The proposed Section 7b2 restricts the access of health care records by plaintiffs in any potential civil "bounty" case, and allows the victim the right to recover legal costs. I do not see how this is legally dubious.

[ZMUN M441]

Motioning for a final vote.

[ZMUN M441]

A final vote on this bill has been initiated.


Aye

[Pyro]

Aye

[nerd73]

Aye

[Vice President Christian Man]

Nay

[ZMUN M441]

LGC 11.54 passes, 3-1 with one Deputy not voting.

[Former President tack50]

X tack50

[Attorney General, Senator-Elect, & Former PPT Dwarven Dragon]

If I am elected to the LGC for the next session, repealing this and restoring LC 10.11 will be a key goal.