The governor of the Democratic Party signed Bill 455 in the House of Representatives after it was passed by the General Assembly on Tuesday, according to his office. The bill includes several provisions that will increase access and protection to abortion services across the country.
“This is a great day for women in Delaware. I can’t stop crying,” Melissa Minor-Brown, a spokeswoman for the House of Representatives, Melissa Minor-Brown, who sponsored the bill, told CNN.
Under the bill, licensed medical assistants, certified practicing nurses and certified midwives who are properly trained will have the right to “terminate a pregnancy before viability.” The bill will also protect individuals from “extradition for an act that leads to a criminal charge of terminating a pregnancy in another country.”
Persons who receive, provide, recommend or assist others in obtaining abortion services in the state are protected under HB 455 from civil claims in another state under the bill.
“Women traveling to Delaware will be protected,” Minor-Brown said. “We will protect women because we are good neighbors and we want to meet women with open arms.
In addition, the bill protects providers from disclosing communications and records regarding reproductive health services, with the exception of records required for the purpose of investigating a complaint against a health care provider.
The bill further protects abortion providers who perform, recommend or provide legal reproductive health services in the country, without subjecting them to regulations and disciplinary actions in other countries.
GOP Sen. Bryant Richardson objected in a statement emailed to CNN that “under Bill 455 of the House of Representatives, training will be minimal and not in the best interests of the patient.”
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