Kaiser Updates

Assistant U.S. Attorney Kathleen Mehltretter is seeking to establish rules in convicted murderer James Kopp's upcoming federal trial involving charges related to the murder of Buffalo, N.Y., abortion provider Barnett Slepian, the AP/Long Island Newsday reports. According to AP/Newsday, prosecutors have asked the judge to prohibit buttons or T-shirts displaying abortion-related slogans in the courtroom. They also are trying to prevent Kopp from explaining his reasons for opposing abortions, describing the experiences of former abortion patients and how fetuses develop or showing the jury pictures of aborted fetuses, AP/Newsday reports. Mehltretter also is attempting to exclude public statements made by Kopp during a 2002 Buffalo News interview and limit witnesses from describing Kopp as a "good person, sincere person, spiritual or holy person, religiously devoted, or good sibling," AP/Newsday reports.

Several South Dakota physicians have "lined up on opposite sides" of the state's law (HB 1215) that bans abortion except to save a woman's life and are "lending their personal and medical opinions to a cause in which they believe," the Sioux Falls Argus Leader reports. According to Ken Aspaas, president of the South Dakota State Medical Association, the abortion ban debate has divided the state's medical community. Publicly, the association "has taken a largely hands-off approach to the subject of abortion," after "heated" discussions among its members in recent months, according to the Argus Leader. However, the SDSMA in June released a statement "strongly condemning" interference by the government or any person in a medical decision, according to the Argus Leader. Some physicians are worried about the ban's effect, "especially when they deem the procedure to be medically necessary for the health of the pregnant woman," the Argus Leader reports. Supporters of the ban have pointed to a report released last year by the South Dakota Task Force to Study Abortion, which included testimony from physicians that women could experience potentially harmful emotional and mental problems from undergoing the procedure, according to the Argus Leader. The task force was appointed by Gov. Mike Rounds (R) and was co-chaired by Maria Bell -- a Sioux Falls ob-gyn who also is the co-chair of the South Dakota Campaign for Healthy Families, the group that organized the petition drive that brought the abortion ban onto the state ballot.

The New York Times on Wednesday examined the New York state Senate's delay on a vote for a bill (A 6619) that would make it possible for school districts that offer sex education to apply for financial aid from the state. The bill, which has bipartisan support and is known as the Healthy Teens Act, was approved in April by a 126-15 vote in the state Assembly and was approved 15-2 by the state Senate Health Committee in May, the Times reports. The bill, sponsored by state Rep. Richard Gottfried (D) and Sen. Nicholas Spano (R), then was sent to the Senate Finance Committee, where it "sat" until the Legislature adjourned in June, the Times reports. New York state Senate leaders have not said why a vote on the bill has been delayed. Matthew Walter, the assistant press secretary to the Senate majority, said the bill is "under review," adding, "At some point, we'll be back in session and make a determination on where we're going." According to the Times, as the bill "falters" in New York, similar bills in states that also "are far from strongholds of the religious right," such as Illinois and Minnesota, are being denied floor votes.

U.S. District Judge Dean Whipple on Tuesday ruled that the state must provide transportation to clinics for pregnant inmates who wish to have abortions, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports. The Missouri Department of Corrections in July 2005 adopted a policy barring the use of tax dollars to transport prisoners to undergo abortions. Attorneys for a state prison inmate -- identified as "Jane Roe" in court papers -- filed a lawsuit in October 2005 asking a federal court to order the corrections department to transport the woman to a clinic for an abortion. Whipple agreed to the request. Attorneys for the Missouri Office of the Attorney General unsuccessfully appealed the ruling to the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and the U.S. Supreme Court. The woman was about 17 weeks' pregnant and had been seeking an abortion for about seven weeks before she received one. The American Civil Liberties Union filed for a federal ruling to make the Jane Roe decision applicable to all pregnant women in the state, which Whipple agreed to, the AP/Houston Chronicle reports.

NPR's "Talk of the Nation" on Wednesday examined the nationwide debate over the rights of health care providers to refuse to perform certain medical procedures and prescribe certain medications because of personal beliefs and the rights of patients to medical care. According to Washington Post reporter Rob Stein, "There is a long history" of the right of conscience in medicine, and it became a "prominent issue" in the U.S. after Roe v. Wade -- the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision that effectively outlawed state abortion bans. "In the wake of that decision, most every state passed what they called a 'conscience' law, which specifically permitted doctors and nurses who did not want to participate in abortion from stepping away and not being forced to do so," Stein said. According to Nancy Berlinger, deputy director and associate for religious studies at the Hastings Center, "A professional in medicine ... always works in a system that is organized around the health and well-being of the patient," and "duty to care is always about placing the patient's needs above one's own needs." Robert Scheidt, chair of the ethics commission of the Christian Medical and Dental Associations, said, "There should be lines and there should be reasonable lines," adding, "The doctor ... has the right of refusal on the basis of conscience. But he has an obligation to be sure that he's practicing factually accurate and rational medicine ... that his conscience is well informed".

The Kansas City Star on Wednesday examined Project Prevention -- a program that offers financial incentives to illicit drug users if they agree to take long-term birth control or undergo sterilization surgery. The group's founder, Barbara Harris, started the program in 1998 in California under the name Children Requiring a Caring Kommunity, or CRACK. According to the Star, Project Prevention now has chapters in 27 states and has paid incentives to almost 1,900 drug users -- most of whom were white, female clients -- in 39 states. Clients can receive $300 annually if they agree to remain on Depo-Provera, a long-birth control shot that is administered every three months, the group says. Project Prevention also pays the same amount to female drug users who agree to undergo sterilization surgery, the Star reports. About 700 women have undergone sterilization surgery as clients of Project Prevention, according to the group. Clients are paid after the group receives paperwork proving they have followed through with the agreement. About 200 clients have enrolled this year in the program, and the group is seeking to end the year with at least 2,006 paid clients, the Star reports. Some critics are concerned the program "is racist, disproportionately focusing on minority women, and preys on people ill-prepared to make life-altering decisions, or those easily swayed by an offer of fast cash," according to the Star. Harris said, "People say we don't have a right to tell them how many children they can have," adding, "I disagree".