The state House on Monday gave initial approval to a bill that would let pharmacists prescribe the “morning-after pill” to women who want to avoid pregnancy.
House Bill 1212 – a hot-button measure that has prompted emotional debates about when life begins and how to protect rape victims – on Monday served as a launching pad for a partisan bickerfest.
Republicans accused Democrats of stifling debate by quashing amendments they didn’t like.
For example, Democrats blocked debate on efforts to require pharmacists to notify the parents of minors seeking emergency contraception.
Democrats hold a 35-30 edge in the House. The party in charge can use its power to decide whether amendments fit on bills.
“The process, in my opinion, has become less than fair, become less than honorable, become inappropriate,” said Rep. Keith King, R-Colorado Springs.
The bill passed on an unrecorded vote and faces a final recorded vote, perhaps as soon as today. The bill allows, but does not require, pharmacists to dispense the pill, known as Plan B.
Plan B prevents pregnancy by delaying ovulation in the woman or by preventing sperm from reaching the egg. It works best when taken within 72 hours of having sex.
Republicans unleashed a full-scale assault on the bill – noting that it was an unprecedented shift of prescribing power away from physicians to pharmacists and that it failed to protect the jobs of chain- store pharmacists from pressure if they choose not to prescribe.
Rep. Jim Kerr, R-Jefferson County, suggested that lawmakers vote against the bill because it failed to define what a woman is.
Opponents say the pill is equivalent to abortion and could flush a fertilized egg from a woman’s body.
When Rep. Kevin Lundberg, R-Berthoud, attempted to express his concern that the bill had an “abortive effect,” he was smacked down by Rep. Rosemary Marshall, D-Denver, who was presiding over the debate.
“You are out of order,” Marshall said, pounding the gavel, noting that the bill was not about what Plan B does but who can prescribe it.
Lundberg was so flustered that he quit debating.
“Madam Chair, I am speechless after being hammered down on not being able to speak to the bill,” Lundberg said, “so I’ll stop speaking to the bill entirely.”
Republicans attempted to derail most of the day’s work by calling for a no vote on an entire package of bills debated Monday. That rare move is more symbolic than realistic because Democrats held enough votes to pass the report.
Two Republicans – Rep. Mark Larson of Cortez and Rep. Larry Liston of Colorado Springs – joined the Democrats in voting for the full package of bills.
Still, Larson noted that Democrats should think twice about getting even, rather than getting the job done.
“You’re doing the same darn thing we did to you,” Larson said, prompting some laughs from fellow lawmakers. “You can laugh all you want, but you’re disrespecting the very people who sent you down here to serve.”
Staff writer Mark P. Couch can be reached at 303-820-1794 or mcouch@denverpost.com.
