Beebe vetoes 20-week limit on abortions

Ban illegal, governor says; override attempt expected

— Calling it unconstitutional, Gov. Mike Beebe vetoed a bill Tuesday that would ban most abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy.

Legislators approved the bill by wide margins in both chambers, and members are expected to try to override the veto, which can be accomplished through a simple majority vote in each chamber.

House Bill 1037 by Rep. Andy Mayberry, R-Hensley, bans abortion after 20 weeks except in cases of rape or incest, or to save the mother’s life or prevent catastrophic injury to her health or major bodily functions. The proposal prohibits abortions even if the fetus has catastrophic health problems.

“Because it would impose a ban on a woman’s right to choose an elective, nontherapeutic abortion before viability, House Bill 1037, if it became law,would squarely contradict Supreme Court precedent,” Beebe wrote in a letter to lawmakers.

The U.S. Supreme Court in its 1973 Roe v. Wade decision said states can restrict abortions once the fetus is viable, or can survive outside the womb. Arkansas code defines viability as 25 weeks into the pregnancy and bans most abortions at that point.

Subsequent Supreme Court cases have addressed viability, Beebe noted in his letter, but not as early as 20 weeks.

Mayberry said he and an attorney for Arkansas Right to Life met with the governor Tuesday and laid out their arguments for why the bill is constitutional.

“I thought that we did a good job this morning alleviating those concerns or at least laying out a good case for why this bill is constitutional. Obviously, the governor and I disagree,” Mayberry said.

Beebe said he took their arguments to his chief legal counsel, Tim Gauger.

“He came to the same conclusion. It’s unconstitutional,” Beebe said.

Moments after the governor’s office announced the veto, cheers erupted in the Capitol rotunda from dozens of Planned Parenthood supporters in hot-pink shirts who were participating in a lobbying day for the organization.

Planned Parenthood of the Heartland President Jill June praised the governor’s decision.

“The bill is unconstitutional, and should it become law, it would be a threat to the health and welfare of women in the state of Arkansas,” June said. “They need to be left to consult with their doctor, with their faith, with their families to make this complex decision.”

Bettina Brownstein, an attorney representing the Arkansas chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, said that if lawmakers override the veto, “we’ll be going to court, which the governor’s trying to save the state from, and I hope legislators agree with him.”

Beebe also wrote in the veto letter that defending the law would lead to court costs and attorneys fees.

“The adoption of unconstitutional laws can be very costly to the taxpayers of ourstate,” he wrote.

It takes a majority of the 100 representatives as well as the 35 senators to override a veto.

The bill was initially approved 80-10 in the House and 25-7 in the Senate.

Mayberry said that because the bill passed by such large, bipartisan margins in the House and Senate, he thinks he has enough support to overturn the veto. But, he added, it’s hard to know whether votes will change.

“Certainly I’m disappointed. I had high hopes that the governor would either sign it or allow it to become law without his signature. With the veto decision, we’ll just move into the next stage of the Legislative process which is an attempt to override the veto,” he said.

Legislative leaders said Tuesday that they haven’t scheduled the override vote.

Both House Speaker Davy Carter, R-Cabot, and Senate President Pro Tempore Michael Lamoureux, R-Russellville, said they expected most lawmakers will overrule Beebe’s decision.

Mayberry’s bill would affect a small number of abortions in Arkansas. In 2011, 48 of the 4,033 abortions in Arkansas took place at or after 20 weeks, according to the Arkansas Department of Health.

A second abortion-restricting bill is awaiting final consideration in the Senate.

Senate Bill 134 by Sen. Jason Rapert, R-Bigelow, would require women seeking an abortion after 12 weeks to first get an abdominal ultrasound to determine whether the fetus has a heartbeat. Rapert amended the original bill to allow abortions in cases of rape or incest, or when the fetus has a “highly lethal fetal disorder” and likely won’t survive long after birth.

Beebe wouldn’t say whether he will veto Rapert’s bill, but said he has made a decision.

Of the 4,033 abortions that occurred in Arkansas in 2011, 815 occurred at or after 12 weeks, according to the state Department of Health. That means if Rapert’s bill were already in place, it would have affected about 20 percent of abortions in Arkansas in 2011.

In Tuesday’s veto letter, Beebe wrote that he appreciated Mayberry’s respect for the governor’s role in the legislative process.

On Friday, Mayberry turned down an offer from fellow Republican Lt. Gov. Mark Darr to sign the bill while Beebe was out of state and Darr was acting governor.

Before announcing the veto, Beebe praised Mayberry to reporters for not asking the lieutenant governor to sign the bill “knowing full well that my predilection at the time, and may still be, to veto the bill. That showed a lot of character and class on his part.”

Mayberry said he just wanted to do things the right way.

“I’m not saying that it would have been the wrong way to have that bill signed on Friday, but I try to put myself in the governor’s shoes, and I know that it typically would be his role and responsibility to have a say in this process, and he had not yet had that opportunity. I just felt like that was the right way to handle things.”

Darr did sign a bill exempting all information about holders of concealed-weapon permits from disclosure under the state Freedom of Information Act.

The bill would have become law Monday without the governor’s signature.

“It’s totally inappropriate for him to sign it. I always thought we had a pretty decent relationship,” Beebe said. “People that are going to do stuff like that, you have to watch, you can’t turn your back on. He didn’t embarrass me, he embarrassed himself.”

Darr said as acting governor it was his right to sign the bill under the constitution.

“I think following the constitution of the state of Arkansas is not inappropriate. I respect the governor. I respect the office of the governor, but mostly I respect the citizens of Arkansas and the 130,000-people that this protects. Honestly I just don’t have time for the Washington-style politics that that is,” Darr said.

Front Section, Pages 1 on 02/27/2013

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