Senate Uses Procedural Maneuver to Defeat Abortion Bill | Video

KFYR-TV | 4/7/2011

There was some infighting among Republicans at the state Capitol today.

Senators used a procedural maneuver to defeat a bill that sought to ban most abortions in the state, without actually voting on it.

The legislation basically defined human life at the point of conception and said anyone who damaged or killed a fertilized egg could be prosecuted for murder or assault.

"It was really demeaning to not have my request for a recorded roll call vote to be listened to. And that was actually in violation of the Constitution. Article 4 Section 13 guarantees that any senator has the right to a recorded roll call vote. But more importantly, the citizens of North Dakota deserve to know where we stand on this issue.," said Sen. Margaret Sitte, R-Bismarck.

Sen. Curtis Olafson, R-Edinburg said: "The maneuver that was done this morning, the floor procedure that was done is completely within Senate rules, in Mason`s rules. It is a very common procedure, in terms of the knowledge that it is available. It`s not used all that often, but it was completely within Senate rules."

Later in the day Sen. Joe Miller tried to bring the bill back, but it didn`t have the two-thirds majority required to do so.

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