Bismarck, N.D., Feb 1, 2019 / 17:01 pm
A bill outlawing dilation and evacuation abortions passed the North Dakota House of Representatives Thursday.
The practice is the most common type of abortion performed in the second trimester.
After the Jan. 31 House vote, which was 78-13, the bill proceeds to the Senate and then the Republican governor.
Under the bill, doctors performing a dilation and evacuation abortion outside of emergency cases would be charged with a felony. Offenders could be punished by a $10,000 fine and up to five years' imprisonment. Women who procure or attempt to procure the procedure could not be prosecuted.
If passed into law, the bill would not become effective until the state attorney general recommends that it is "reasonably probable" that it would be upheld as constitutional.
Similar laws in other states have faced legal challenges from abortion rights' proponents.
The US Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit recently heard oral arguments over an analogous law in Arkansas.
Mississippi and West Virginia have already enacted laws banning dilation and evacuation abortions, and an Ohio law against the procedure will take effect in March.
Similar laws face injunctions in Alabama, Kansas, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas.
North Dakota's fole abortion provider is the Red River Women's Clinic in Fargo.
Another pro-life bill was approved by the state House Jan. 28 by a 73-16 vote. This bill would oblige abortion providers to inform women receiving chemical abortions that if they change their mind, they could still carry out a live birth.
If a woman has only taken mifepristone, the first medication for chemical abortion, taking progesterone can stop the abortion.
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