AZ lege persisting in pushing anti-choice measure on AZ's women

One of the lege's anti-choice/womens health care bills (HB2838) is stalled in a House committee, but that's not stopping the more extreme members of the lege (Rs, one and all) from trying to do an end run around that committee...

On Monday, the Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to meet at 2 p.m. or upon adjournment of the Senate's floor session in SHR1.  Sen. Steve Yarbrough (R-Self Dealer) slipped a gem of a striker on to that meeting's agenda, with the following subject:

abortion; procedures; informed consent; requirements

With a subject like that, one would expect the involvement of the Center For Arizona Theocracy Policy (CAP), and one would be correct (Arizona Capitol Times coverage here, subscription required).

It has all of the clauses of the stalled HB2838.

It's a long bill (27 pages!), and a complicated one, but it contains most of the "ideas" that anti-choice activists have pushed here and across the country.  Here is a brief checklist -

Mandatory ultrasounds as part of all abortion procedures?  Check...

Require that doctors who perform abortions do so within 30 miles of a hospital where they have admitting privileges?  Check...

Interject the legislature between patients and their doctors by mandating specific medical activities, without regard to what is best for a particular patient?  Check...

Subject abortion providers to all sort of onerous and vindictive penalties for any infraction of state laws or regulations?  Check...

Ban most abortions after 20 weeks?  Check...

Breach doctor/patient confidentiality by introducing a third party (a notary public) into the health care process, based not on medical need but on ideology?  Check...

And those are just the high points.

Another highlight is the "legislative findings" section of the measure.  It's four pages and hundreds of words of pure propaganda masquerading as scholarly research and legal precedent, all tied up in a big red bow by a self-congratulatory expression of concern for the health of women.


Anyway, if  you can't make it down to the Capitol to express your objections to the striker, those of you who have set up an account can log in and weigh in on the measure here.  Otherwise, the list of committee members is here.  Click on members' names for phone and email contact info.

Best guess:  This measure passes committee on a party-line vote. and probably passes the full Senate along party lines too.  The question is when it returns to the House for approval of the amendment.  If I understand legislative procedure correctly, by using the "striker" method, they'll be able to bypass the House committee process and send it directly to the floor for the entire House to vote on it.

Reading the striker (and the original bill), I'm curious about one thing -

Does the lege have CAP's lobbyists and attorneys on retainer, or does CAP have the lege on retainer?