BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) - The Latest on North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum signing bill banning abortion procedure (all times local):
6:40 p.m.
Supporters of a North Dakota bill that makes it a crime for a doctor performing an abortion to use instruments such as clamps, scissors and forceps to remove a fetus from the womb are praising Gov. Doug Burgum for signing it.
Burgum’s spokesman, Mike Nowatzki, says the first-term Republican governor signed the bill Wednesday outlawing the abortion procedure known as dilation and evacuation. The bill uses the non-medical term “human dismemberment abortion” to describe the second-trimester procedure.
The bill’s primary sponsor, Republican Rep. Luke Simons, says the practice is wrong and he hopes that Burgum put a big signature on it. Another supporter, Republican Rep. Jeff Hoverson, a pastor, called the bill “a no-brainer.”
The bill becomes effective if a federal appeals court or the U.S. Supreme Court allows its enforcement. Hoverson is optimistic that will happen.
Tammi Kromenaker, director of the Red River Valley Women’s Clinic in Fargo, the state’s only abortion provider, did not return a phone message to The Associated Press.
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4:50 p.m.
North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum has signed legislation that makes it a crime for a doctor performing an abortion to use instruments such as clamps, scissors and forceps to remove a fetus from the womb.
Burgum’s spokesman, Mike Nowatzki, says the first-term Republican governor signed the bill Wednesday outlawing the abortion procedure known as dilation and evacuation. The bill uses the non-medical term “human dismemberment abortion” to describe the second-trimester procedure.
Doctors performing the procedure could be charged with a felony, punishable by up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine.
Opponents argue that banning the procedure is unconstitutional because it interferes with private medical decisions. Similar laws elsewhere are on hold because of legal challenges.
The bill becomes effective if a federal appeals court or the U.S. Supreme Court allows its enforcement.
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