Gov’t Regs Not the Place to Make Women’s Health Decisions

Democratic legislators stand up against bureaucratic intrusion into women’s health decisions

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 7, 2014

Today, democratic legislators Representative Geran Tarr, Representative Beth Kerttula, Representative Harriet Drummond and Senator Berta Gardner spoke out against the governor’s bureaucratic intrusion into Alaska women’s personal health decisions. The Parnell administration recently finalized regulations allowing government bureaucrats to determine which circumstances determine whether a woman’s abortion procedure is medically necessary, a determination previously left to health professionals.

“These are private medical decisions that a woman makes in consultation with her family and doctor, not decisions that government should make,” said Tarr (D-Anchorage). “My concern is that women get safe medical care.”

“Government should not be involved in these decisions, period,” said Kerttula (D-Juneau), the House democratic leader. “We in Alaska have a strong belief in, and a constitutional right to, privacy, and we don’t want government’s hands involved in personal decisions about our bodies.”

“These decisions should be made by a woman in consultation with her doctor, her family, and her faith,” said Drummond (D-Anchorage). “No government bureaucrat in a cubicle should be able to take that choice away from disadvantaged women or any other woman.”

“We know that access to affordable family planning services is an effective way to reduce abortion. That should be our priority,” said Gardner (D-Anchorage).

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