Copyright 1999 Globe Newspaper Company
The Boston
Globe
May 19, 1999, Wednesday ,City Edition
SECTION: METRO/REGION; Pg. B3PHOTO
LENGTH: 257 words
HEADLINE:
Opposing sides weigh in on late procedure;
[ A PUBLISHED CORRECTION HAS BEEN
ADDED TO THIS STORY.
BYLINE: Associated Press
BODY:
Roman Catholic Cardinal
Bernard Law urged lawmakers yesterday to pass a bill banning so-called
"partial-birth" abortions, but abortion rights and women's
activists said the procedures are rare and done only when medically necessary.
"Moral decency demands no less than the passage of this bill," Law told
the Legislature's Judiciary Committee. But opponents said the procedures are
performed only when a woman's life or health is endangered, or when problems
with the fetus are discovered.
"Third-trimester abortions are not
performed on healthy women carrying healthy fetuses," Pam Nourse, a spokeswoman
for Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts, said in a statement.
The
decision to have the procedure "is a sad and tragic family decision; empathy,
not political rhetoric, is needed," she said.
The late-term abortion
procedure has been controversial in recent years. Congress has twice passed a
similar ban and President Clinton has vetoed it twice.
Around the
country, the bans have been passed in numerous state Legislatures, with legal
challenges frequently following soon after.
The Massachusetts bill
defines a partial-birth abortion as partially delivering a fetus before "killing
the fetus and completing the delivery."
The proposed law would ban the
procedure if a pregnancy has proceeded past 24 weeks "except if it is necessary
to save the life of the mother."
The bill would impose a maximum fine of
$2,000 and up to five years in prison on doctors who perform
partial-birth abortions.
GRAPHIC: ,CHURCH AND STATE -
Bishop Shawn O'Malley (from left), of Worcester, Cardinal Bernard Law, and
Bishop William Murphy at the State House yesterday supporting a ban on
partial-birth abortion. The debate on Beacon Hill could be contentious. (PHOTO,
PG. B1) / GLOBE STAFF PHOTO / JANET KNOTT [ CORRECTION - DATE: Thursday, May 20,
1999: CORRECTION: Because of incorrect information supplied to the Globe, a
photo caption in yesterday's Metro/Region section referring to a story on
partial-birth abortions misidentified two bishops. Featured in the photo were
Bishop Sean O'Malley of the diocese of Fall River (left), Cardinal Bernard Law,
and Bishop Daniel Reilly of the diocese of Worcester.]
LOAD-DATE: May 28, 1999 
