As we reported yesterday, Compassionate Care passed the House by a wide margin. The bill passed 113 to 36. Last week is passed the Senate by a vote of 32 to 3. The bill’s final hurdle is Governor Rell’s signature, and as of this morning we’ve seen no threat of a veto. The progress from last year when a similar bill didn’t even make it out of committee is extraordinary.
The biggest surprise for me was that Reps Thompson and Morris, two Democrats on the Human Services Committee who had voted against passing it through, ended up voting in favor of the bill. Thompson even spoke out in favor of the bill on the floor! At the time of the hearing I was fairly harsh in my criticism of both men. With that in mind I wanted to take a moment to acknowledge that when push came to shove both Morris and Thompson did the right thing.
Unfortunately eleven Democrats: Reps. Aldarondo, Altobello, Ayala, Christiano, Fritz, Gonzalez, Keeley, McMahon, Nicastro, Reinoso, and Truglia voted against the bill. That so many elected officials in my own party couldn’t stand up for women is depressing. Democrats are supposed to stand up for women. I’d love to see some or all of these Legislators face a primary in 2008.
For more information check out MLN’s live blog of the debate and CT New Junkie’s article.
3 responses so far ↓
Am I the only one who thinks this is a bad bill for a traumatized rape victim? The bill requires that a rape victim submit to a pregnancy test before being given the Plan B regimen. That test delays the administration of the drug and thereby delays treatment and places the woman at greater risk of pregnancy than need be. Medically speaking Plna B can’t stop a pregnancy and pregnancy tests are never 100% accurate. In my opinion the test should be given but either concurrently with, or after, Plan B administration begins.
Dan Debicella was one of three Senators to vote against Plan B.
The issue is not about religious freedom but it is about providing
health services and compassion to victims of rape.
The bill is a good compromise but it still appears not to be good
enough for some. It will cost Debicella votes for re-election as
it should.
DarkHorse: How can you say that the bill isn’t about religious freedom when one of the major issues — the rights of the unborn — is central to the catholic church’s doctrine?
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