As legislators are finishing up their two-week break, I’d like to cover a couple of bills from just before the break and some thoughts for this last month.
HB 374 expands the work done by HB 455 (2022) and removes potential liability from medical personnel who are a part of fertility treatments. It passed the House and is waiting to be heard in its first Senate committee hearing.
While even many Christians find no issue with in vitro fertilization, but the number of errors and unethical practices surrounding the procedures have more than once made headlines. There has been the accidental, and even purposeful, swapping of eggs or sperm, excessive or wrongful implantation, difficult custody battles over embryos, etc. More recently, we’ve also seen how the world of in vitro fertilization has been opened up to contribute to gender dysmorphic procedures and ideology.
The most important phrase to notice within HB 374 is how it would change the current section in DelCode that focuses on ‘termination of pregnancy’ to ‘reproductive health services.’ This is an important reference as it extends well beyond the realm of just in vitro, or what is directly related to pregnancy. We have seen this phrase used elsewhere to include gender-transitioning procedures. By using the broadened phrase, ‘reproductive health service,’ it shows more of the intention of the bill sponsors. We know that this bill is an extension of HB 455 (2022), it states as much in the synopsis, but there is also another bill that it models. In the same year that HB 455–the bill this one seeks to expand–was passed, a Congressional version of the bill was attempted. It has been introduced again in the Senate, S.1297, and looks to remove medical liability from abortion, ivf, and gender transitioning procedures; it is essentially HB 455, HB 346, and HB 374 all in one. Our Delaware Legislature has simply split the Congressional bill into three, passing the first two years ago and pushing to pass the next two on its back. By including ‘reproductive health care service’ as a phrase in HB 374, it only cements that purpose and goal. It does not intend to stop with in vitro fertilization; it is not an innocuous bill, but a part of a greater agenda to dismiss medical accountability.
HS 2 for HB 110 is the bill to use taxpayer dollars for abortions. It will pay up to $750 and remove any requirement for cost-sharing, co-pay, etc. Three Republicans joined the majority Democrat vote to pass the bill in the House.
During Majority Leader Minor-Brown’s defense of the bill, she brought up a study that found that women who are “refused an abortion” have higher rates of issues such as debt and poverty. I won’t attempt to discredit the study itself, but the usage of the study is beyond questionable. It says that when women are faced with hard realities like debt, their best option is to murder their preborn child. Yes, the potential for financial hardship is a reality of unplanned pregnancies; it’s a reality that pregnancy care centers often see and offer resources to assist the mother and babies in difficult situations. If financial hardship truly was at the heart of the concern, Rep. Minor Brown and her colleagues would not sponsor bills like SB 300 that attempt to place undue and unconstitutional burdens on pregnancy care centers that serve women during their unplanned pregnancies.
These bills and other several others will be racing towards the finished line over the next few weeks. Legislators will return this coming Tuesday and finish the rest of the Session with only one break on Wed, June 19th. There are still quite a few bills floating around that we’re unsure of if or when they will be heard and passed. With only 3 weeks to close out those remaining bills, you better believe things will be moving fast. We will work to keep you abreast of what’s going on as quickly as we’re able. Be on the lookout for those alerts to contact your legislators, as they may come much more quickly and seemingly last minute than they have earlier in the year. During this time, let’s be prayerful and stay encouraged. No matter what happens between today and June 30th, our God is still on the throne and is well aware of what’s going on. We must simply continue to do our part and trust Him in the process.
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Nandi Randolph
Policy Analyst