Tag: Roe v. Wade

The Right Choice

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51 years ago tonight, I was about to go out to dinner with my grandmother.

I was a first-year law student, and Grandma was setting sail from New York harbor the next day.

As Grandma got dressed, I was watching Walter Cronkite.  LBJ had died and Roe v. Wade had been decided.

At her 60th birthday party, Aunt Margie told her celebrants that, on the next day, when the House of Delegates was expected to enact the legislation making the Roe standard the law of Maryland, I would be one of the floor leaders.

My first substantive conversation with Rachel, my niece, was about a woman’s right to choose.  She was a Boston University undergrad at the time.  Now she is the mother of two girls.

This morning, I wrote Aunt Margie, Rachel, and my cousin, Babette, named after my mother:

“As you know, I am so proud of the role I have played in protecting the health and well being of the women I know and love and the women I serve.”

Protecting Privacy for Reproductive Health Care

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This afternoon, the House passed the bill protecting the privacy of women who receive reproductive health care in Maryland.

There was no floor debate.  I attribute that to the merits of House Bill 812.

As the bill’s sponsor, I prepared the following remarks.

When this General Assembly codified the holding of Roe V Wade and the voters of this state approved that law on referendum, 62-38%, there was no mention of the provision of care for women from out-of-state.

There was no need to do so.  No one expected people to come to Maryland for reproductive health care.  Roe protected that fundamental right throughout the United States.

That, as we all know, is no longer the case.

Patients will seek care in Maryland because they face criminal prosecution and civil liability if they do so in the state where they live.

However, they don’t escape that threat if they obtain reproductive care in a state where it is legal, such as Maryland.

In addition, their health care providers are also liable under the laws of several states.

Marylanders who travel to certain states and need health care are also vulnerable.

HB 812 protects those patients and their health care providers by regulating the disclosure of medical information relevant to their reproductive health care by custodians of public records, health care providers, health information exchanges, and dispensers.

The bill’s language is the result of discussions with the relevant parties – most notably the Maryland Health Care Commission and CRISP, the state-designated health information exchange.

The dates of implementation are staggered, and consultation with the General Assembly during this process is mandated.

 

Preparing for a Bill

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At the outset of the Trump administration, legislation was introduced authorizing Maryland’s Attorney General to sue the federal government without obtaining the Governor’s approval.

Speaker Mike Busch referred the bill to the subcommittee that I chaired.

The day before the floor debate, my committee chair, Delegate Shane Pendergrass, asked me if I was prepared to defend the bill.

I replied, “I’ve been preparing to defend this bill for 66 years.”

In response to the Supreme Court’s decision overturning Roe v. Wade, I am sponsoring one of the bills that would protect women and health care providers in Maryland from civil and criminal liability under the laws of Texas and other states.

It was 32 years ago this week that the General Assembly enacted legislation adopting the Roe standard.

How do I know this (without Googling)?

The day before the final vote on that bill, my aunt celebrated her birthday.

She told her guests that I would be the floor leader for the bill the next day.

Aunt Margie is coming to Annapolis tonight to celebrate her birthday.

At dinner, I told her, “I’ve been preparing to defend this pro-choice legislation for 32 years.”

Rachel, Liv, and Ivy

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We passed two abortion bills on the House floor yesterday.  My remarks follow.

First Statement

I rise to explain my vote.

When we as a body last considered this momentous issue thirty-one years ago, my niece, Rachel, was six years old; she is now the mother of two wonderful kids, Liv and Ivy.

But the issue before us is the same fundamental issue that we faced – and the voters then faced – thirty years ago:  who decides?  Should it be a decision, this momentous decision . . . should it be a decision that the woman makes in consultation with the people whom she chooses to seek advice from?  Or should the State intervene at any stage . . . whenever?

We reached a balance, as the Court did in Roe.  We said that prior to viability, this is a decision for the woman to make.  And it is very restrictive after that.  It is not abortion on demand.

The one thing that has changed is our health care system.  One of the things that I’ve learned serving on HGO [the Health and Government Operations Committee], is that our health care system today provides far more access to most women – most Marylanders – than it did thirty years ago.  What this bill does is try to address that gap, so that every woman in this state is treated equally.

I, once again, urge a green vote.

(Note:  I spoke of Rachel, Liv, and Ivy but I was also thinking of being in Grandma’s hotel room in NYC the night that Cronkite announced that Roe v Wade had been handed down; my aunt’s 60th birthday party in 1991, where she announced to her friends that I was the floor leader for the vote to codify Roe the next day; and, of course, Mother’s influence on my thinking.)

 

Second Statement

If I may make two points regarding the comments by my friend the Minority Whip.

First, the key phrase in this proposed constitutional amendment is that the state can intervene, can restrict, the abortion only if it’s furthering a compelling state interest.  Well, if there’s ever a compelling state interest, it’s the First Amendment and free speech.  And if I heard my colleague correctly, he indicated that this amendment would inhibit free speech, so that is not the case.

I would also say that the basis of the decision in Roe is not from out of nowhere; the basis of the decision is the privacy right, which was first articulated by then Professor Brandeis, future Justice Brandeis.  So it is protecting that right and furthering that right at a time at a time when there are now members of the Court who believe that we should go further and then strike down Roe, but to enshrine as a constitutional right, the right to life of the fetus.

So this constitutional amendment is before you in light, as well, of that real prospect.

A Cosponsorship that’s worth a screen grab

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Asking people to cosponsor your bill is the biggest waste of time in Annapolis – except when it isn’t.

Lots of cosponsors aren’t as valuable as one or two people who are leaders on the committee that will decide the fate of your legislation.

They will be in the room where it happens.

Today, Delegate Ariana Kelly asked me to cosponsor the Abortion Care Access Act.

The other cosponsors are all senior members of the Health and Government Operations Committee.

I also took pictures of my signing the bill.

Why such a big deal?

I sent the screen grab to Aunt Margie.  Thirty one years ago, at her 60th birthday party, she told her friends that I would be a floor leader when we passed the bill enacting the holding of Roe v. Wade.

We did it the next day.

I also sent the photo to Rachel, my niece.

In 1991, she was six years old.  Now she’s the mother of two girls.

It’s never too early

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You need to start working on your bill months before you introduce it.

I’m currently in the drafting stage.

Bills that failed last session need to be revised.

Under House Bill 499, if a property owner violates the consumer protection law, any monetary penalty would be deposited in a fund for rental and housing assistance.

Last session, House Bill 18 created a right of access to legal counsel in certain eviction cases.

I’m modifying HB 499 to reflect that.

Before Gov. Hogan nixed the Red Line, I passed a bill mandating a study of the impact of the Red Line on adjacent communities.

The infrastructure and budget reconciliation bills in Congress could revive an East-West transit line.

Last night, the City met with the neighbors of Druid Hill Park to discuss how to make the streets adjacent to the park more neighborhood friendly.

https://www.baltimoresun.com/politics/bs-md-ci-baltimore-druid-hill-traffic-plan-20211008-3x2mhtt3ojbg3ecgkihkhhcnie-story.html

I’ve asked that a similar study be required for the Edmondson Avenue corridor and other areas in my bill for next session.

Will Roe v. Wade survive?

With a restrictive Mississippi law before the Supreme Court this fall, Roe is in danger.

As you likely know, Maryland voters approved on referendum a law that wrote the Roe protections into our law.

That statute should be unaffected by the Supreme Court’s decision.

Nonetheless, access to reproductive health care, regardless of income, needs to be addressed.

I’m working with several colleagues on a bill draft.

But in Maryland, We Did

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“You can’t plan for a blatantly false or unconstitutional court ruling like this [Supreme Court decision on the Texas abortion law],” said Representative Conor Lamb of Pennsylvania, a Democrat who is running for his state’s open Senate seat next year.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/02/us/politics/scotus-abortion-decision.html

Pro-choice health care providers, activists, and legislators are now responding to the Supreme Court’s decision late Wednesday night.

How can the White House, the Congress, and state legislatures preserve a woman’s right to choose?

In Maryland, we did so thirty years ago.

Anticipating a case where the Court would weaken or eliminate the constitutional protections for abortion, we passed legislation that preserved the holding of Roe v. Wade in Maryland law.

Before a fetus is viable – capable of sustained survival outside the womb, the government may not intervene.

When the fetus is viable, an abortion can be performed in only a limited set of circumstances.

I was one of the leaders of this effort in the House of Delegates.

Next year, we will continue to protect the right to choose for all women, whatever their economic status.

Senator Barbara Hoffman

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Barbara Hoffman was my Senator for 19 years.

There was no policy issue where we disagreed.

Our most prominent joint effort was writing the holding of Roe v. Wade into Maryland law.

We realized that our bill needed to be supported by 29 members of the Senate (to end a filibuster) and 71 members of the House of Delegates, signed by Governor William Donald Schaefer, and approved by 50.1% of the voters on the referendum that was sure to follow.

To broaden support for the bill, we included a parental notice provision if a minor chooses to have an abortion.

When reporters spoke with me this week for Barbara’s obituary, I always discussed this legislation.

These interviews reminded me that  she played a key role in another current issue.

After Frank DeFrancis bought Pimlico Race Track, he wanted to add Sunday racing.

The surrounding neighborhoods, which are in our legislative district, were opposed.

A compromise was reached.  Sunday racing would be permitted, and the law would require that the Preakness be run at Pimlico.

I was not in the room where it happened when that compromise was struck.  Senator Barbara Hoffman was.

Good Advice

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It’s good to get some advice that you already follow.

The Attorney General and Solicitor of New Jersey have written:

First, state elected officials must be ready to respond quickly to, or act in advance of, rulings from the Supreme Court. If, for example, the Affordable Care Act is weakened or struck down, Democratic state legislatures should have bills drafted to introduce that day to protect people who will lose coverage. And officials must act now to protect and expand access to reproductive health care — especially for poor women and women of color — given the clear threat to Roe v. Wade.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/16/opinion/progressive-conservative-courts.html

When the General Assembly enacted HB 959, Health Insurance – Consumer Protections, we made it  as consistent as possible with the ACA protections.

When we wrote the holding of Roe v. Wade into Maryland law, I was the floor leader in the House of Delegates.  If the Supreme Court overturns Roe, women’s reproductive health will still be protected in our state.

“The new court may also make it easier for companies to degrade the environment,” the op-ed continues.

Last year, I introduced HB 869 to require that all State agencies adopt environmental regulations consistent with the federal standards in effect on January 1, 2020, in case the Trump administration weakened those protections.   After reading the op-ed, I wrote state environmental advocates, “Are there cases on the Supreme Court’s docket that pose this problem?”

The Supreme Court will reach decisions this term regarding the free exercise of religion.  I’ve already written a colleague about working on an appropriate response.

February 8 – It was 25 years ago today

| by delsandy | Sandy's 2016 Legislative Diary | No Comments

If any of the Republican Presidential candidates were to win next November and nominate pro-life justices to the Supreme Court, a woman’s right to choose would be at great risk but not in Maryland.

Twenty five years ago this Monday, we passed the bill making the holding of Roe v. Wade the law of Maryland.  It was approved on referendum by a 62-38% margin.

Our law is not abortion on demand, which is how pro-lifers falsely characterize it.

If a fetus is viable, an abortion is legal only if the procedure is necessary to protect the life or health of the woman or the fetus is affected by genetic defect or serious deformity or abnormality.

More than a dozen Republican legislators, including future governor Robert Ehrlich, voted for Senate Bill 162 in 1991. Of my GOP colleagues today, a handful, at best, are pro-choice.

Governor Schaefer signed the bill within an hour of the final vote in the House of Delegates. That would not be the case today with Governor Hogan.

Access to family planning is likely to be the women’s reproductive health issue this year in Annapolis.

Legislation will be introduced this week.

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