|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
MARVIN MANDEL, Governor 3689
I cannot sign into law a measure which deals with
the State's regulation of abortions unless that measure
is totally free of ambiguities as well as legal or
interpretive infirmities.
For these reasons, I have decided to veto House Bill
1065.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Sincerely,
Marvin Mandel
Governor
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Letter from State Law Department on
House Bill 1065
May 25, 1977
The Honorable Marvin Mandel
Governor or Maryland
State House
Annapolis, Maryland 21401
Re: House Bill 1065
Dear Governor Mandel:
This bill (1) requires that abortions performed
after the twentieth week of pregnancy be performed in a
hospital; (2) provides that certain information be
included in the medical record of the patient upon whom
an abortion has been performed and (3) in subsection (b)
provides that a fetus torn alive as a result of an
abortion shall be treated as a neglected child and become
an abandoned ward of the State unless one or both of the
parents of the child agree within thirty days of the
birth to accept the parental rights and responsibilities
for the child. The bill also imposes a criminal penalty
for any person who performs an abortion in violation of
subsection (a) of the bill.
The first sentence of subsection (a) provides that
abortions performed after the twentieth week of pregnancy
shall be performed only in a hospital. At present
Maryland law (Art. 43, §137) requires, inter alia, that
all terminations of a human pregnancy take place "in a
hospital accredited by the Joint Commission for
Accreditation of Hospitals and licensed by the State
Board of Health and Mental Hygiene". As we have recently
confirmed, this current requirement is unconstitutional,
principally as a consequence of the decision of the
United States Supreme Court in Doe v. Bolton, 410 U.S.
179(1973). A copy of our opinion of May 12, 1977,
dealing with this and other issues presented by the
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
