ND bills could make abortion rules strictest in US

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) ? The North Dakota Senate was expected to vote Friday on a pair of bills that could make the state's abortion laws the most restrictive in the country.

One bill would ban most abortions if a fetal heartbeat was detected, something that could happen as early as six weeks into pregnancy depending on what type of method was used. A second bill would prevent women from having abortions based on gender selection or a genetic defect, such as Down syndrome.

Guttmacher Institute spokeswoman Elizabeth Nash said North Dakota would be the only state to ban abortions based on a genetic defect. Pennsylvania, Arizona and Oklahoma ban abortions based on gender selection, she said. The institute tracks abortion laws throughout the country.

The measures have already passed the North Dakota House, and approval by the Republican-controlled Senate would send them to Republican Gov. Jack Dalrymple. He has not said publicly whether he would sign them.

Action in North Dakota comes after lawmakers in Arkansas overrode Democratic Gov. Mike Beebe's veto last week to pass a similar 12-week ban, prohibiting abortions from the point when a fetus' heartbeat can typically be detected using an abdominal ultrasound.

The original version of that bill didn't specify how a heartbeat would be detected and would have banned the procedure as early as six weeks. But lawmakers balked after opponents said detecting a heartbeat that early would have required a vaginal probe ultrasound.

Abortion rights advocates say the North Dakota measures are an attempt to close the state's sole abortion clinic in Fargo. They also say the so-called fetal heartbeat bill is a direct challenge the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that legalized abortion up until viability, usually at 22 to 24 weeks, and its supporters should expect a costly legal fight if it becomes law.

Republican Rep. Bette Grande, an ardent anti-abortion legislator from Fargo, introduced both bills and said lawmakers should not vote against them because they fear looming litigation.

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Follow James MacPherson on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/macphersonja .

Associated Press

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