Michigan House Panel Votes To Ban Common Second-Trimester Abortion Procedure
LANSING (AP) - A Michigan legislative panel has voted to prohibit a common second-trimester abortion procedure that anti-abortion advocates say "dismembers" the fetus.
The bills won party-line approval Tuesday from the Republican-led House Criminal Justice Committee and go to the House.
Supporters say the procedure is gruesome and cruel. Abortion rights supporters say the legislation is unconstitutional and bans a safe, common abortion method.
The procedure, called dilation and evacuation, accounts for 8 percent of Michigan's abortions. About 86 percent of abortions occur in the first trimester.
The legislation provides an exception if a physician determines the procedure is necessary to save a woman's life.
Michigan is the third state to try to ban the procedure. Judges have blocked similar laws in Kansas and Oklahoma.
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