Rep. Eric Meyer, who has a medical degree and headed a Portland, Ore., emergency room, opposed H2564, along with most House Democrats. Rep. David Schapira stands behind Meyer as Rep. David Bradley looks up from his seat.

House Republicans advanced a significant portion of their agenda March 11 when they voted to approve measures that ranged from restricting abortion and extending private school tax credits to opposing a federal measure supported by labor unions.
In early February, House GOP leaders announced their priorities for the session and listed nine items they promised to vote on within 45 days. Their actions on March 11 took care of five of those top policy issues.
Those are:
H2240, which suspends state agency rulemaking that would impose a cost on businesses for one year.

H2286, which expands income tax credits for contributions to charitable organizations to include nonprofit groups that provide services to sick or disabled children.

H2288, which repeals a 2011 expiration of a corporate tuition tax credit program.
H2400, which institutes a state ban on partial-birth abortion.
H2401, which would establish a panel of business owners to oversee the governmental rulemaking process.
HCM2004, which encourages Congress not to approve the “Employee Free Choice Act,” which would change how workers can unionize.
The bulk of debate on the House floor centered on a pair of abortion bills, one which would ban partial-birth abortions, and another which would institute a series of restrictions on women seeking the procedure, including a 24-hour waiting period and a required set of information that the woman must receive.
That measure, H2564, also allows doctors, nurses and pharmacists to refuse to participate in an abortion or provide emergency contraception.
Democrats decried the bill, saying it put an undue burden on doctors and could cause some women to resort to other, unsafe methods to terminate unwanted pregnancies.
“It is not the government’s duty to step between the patient and her doctor,” said Tucson Democrat Steve Farley.
But the bill’s sponsor, Phoenix Republican Nancy Barto, said the legislation would protect women and protect the civil rights of health care providers.
House Majority Leader John McComish said there is no agreement from Senate leaders that the bills will be acted upon. That body has refrained from considering legislation until the state’s annual budget is completed.
“It’s not to put any pressure on them,” McComish said. “We’re doing what we said we would do.”
The other three items Republican leaders pledged to act on by March 18 are:

• Permanently repealing the state’s property tax, which was suspended three years ago and is set to return this year.
• Creating a task force to determine to what extent Arizona should participate in the Western Climate Initiative, a collaboration of Western states that hopes to reduce global warming in the region.
• Enabling public/private partnerships to build transportation infrastructure.