California can proceed with a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of a federal budget amendment denying money to states and cities that require "health" facilities to provide emergency abortion care. U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White of San Francisco issued an order late Monday denying the federal government's motion to dismiss the state's lawsuit, noting California claims the amendment keeps it from enforcing its own laws on medically necessary emergency abortions. Attorney General Bill Lockyer, who with Superintendent of Public Education Jack O'Connell sued the federal government in January. The lawsuit challenges an amendment written into this year's $143 billion labor, health, human services and education spending bill by Rep. Dave Weldon, R-Fla. The amendment prohibits giving any of this federal money to any state or local government that "subjects any institutional or individual health care (provider) to discrimination on the basis that the health care (provider) does not provide, pay for, provide coverage of, or refer for abortions."
Posted by Editor at June 30, 2005 04:15 PM
