Arizona Says Abortion Can Be Reversed

PHOENIX (CN) - Arizona's Legislature this week approved a bill requiring doctors to tell patients that they can reverse drug-induced abortions, and barring women from buying health insurance through the federal exchange that includes abortion coverage.

Senate Bill 1318 requires that a doctor or a medical professional at the request of a doctor must tell a woman 24 hours before an abortion that "it may be possible to reverse the effects of a medication abortion if the woman changes her mind but that time is of the essence."

It will also require the Department of Health Services to make information available on reversing the effects of a medication abortion on its website.

The bill by state Sen. Nancy Barto, R-Phoenix, lays out a number of topics a doctor must discuss with a woman before an abortion, including the medical risks, alternatives, and the "probable anatomical and physiological characteristics of the unborn child at the time the abortion is to be performed."

The bill includes a provision prohibiting women from buying health insurance through the federal exchange that includes abortion coverage.

"Consistent with the provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, any qualified health insurance policy, contract or plan offered through any health care exchange operating in this state shall not provide coverage for abortion," the bill states.

The bill does allow for insurance plans to provide abortion services that are necessary to save the life of a woman, to stop the "substantial and irreversible impairment of a major bodily function of the woman having the abortion," or if the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest.

The Republican-led state Senate passed the bill 18-11 on Wednesday, with two Democrats voting in favor of the bill. The House passed the bill 33-24 on Monday.

It now heads to Governor Doug Ducey, a Republican, to sign or veto.

Ducey has not said what action he will take, but has said in the past that he does not support abortion.

Follow @jamierossCNS

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