VIDEO REPORT: Grieving mother wants abortion clinics better regulated in Maryland

At the start of this year’s legislative session in Annapolis, I had a chance to spend some time with a Baltimore woman who is trying to bring some good out of a profound loss. Stephanie White’s 21-year-old daughter, Denise Crowe, died in 2006 after receiving an overdose of anesthesia while undergoing an abortion.

White, who is now raising her grandson, is convinced her daughter would be alive today if the state’s abortion clinics were regulated as ambulatory surgical centers and not merely as doctors’ offices as currently prescribed. She is working closely with the Maryland Catholic Conference to pass a law that would enact tighter regulations.  (Click here to read an in-depth story about White’s ordeal).

As reported in today’s Catholic Review, it looks like White’s legislation is being stalled in the General Assembly. The grieving mother told me she won’t rest until the regulations are changed.  She believes the bill is worthy of support among pro-life and pro-choice advocates alike.  

At a time when South Dakota Gov. Dennis Daugaard just signed a bill instituting a 72-hour waiting period for women seeking an abortion (the longest in the country), our representatives can’t even agree to require abortion clinics to enact the most basic emergency procedures and safety requirements. 

Maryland has no waiting period and no parental consent for minors seeking an abortion. Its parental notification law has such a big loophole that a 13-year-old girl can get an abortion without ever telling her mother or father. Maryland is one of just four states that do not collect any abortion statistics and one of 17 states that fund abortion with taxpayer dollars through Medicaid.

As White pointed out during emotional hearings on the regulation of abortion clinics, the bill she supports would not close abortion facilities. It would simply hold them more accountable. No matter your position on abortion, that seems like it’s not asking much.  Is it?

Here’s a video report taken from one of my conversations with White.

Eye-opening enrollment trends signal need for BOAST

The Maryland Catholic Conference is gearing up once again to make a major push for passage of a business tax credit known as BOAST (Building Opportunities for All Students and Teachers).

Long a top priority of the legislative lobbying arm of the state’s Catholic bishops, BOAST would give businesses a 75 percent state income-tax credit in exchange for their donations to groups that provide scholarships for nonpublic school students. It would also help nonpublic schoolteachers and enrichment programs in the public schools.

BOAST came close to becoming a reality last year, receiving the endorsement of Gov. Martin J. O’Malley and a 30-17 favorable vote in the Senate. Yet, the measure was thwarted in the House of Delegates Ways and Means Committee, where Chairwoman Sheila Hixson stymied the bill. It was defeated on a 14-7 committee vote.

Ellen Robertson, the Catholic Conference’s associate director for education and family life, is convinced there are plenty of votes to pass the bill on the House floor if it could just get out of committee. She contends that the measure is needed now more than ever as Catholic schools struggle with declining enrollment.

Robertson isn’t alone. In a 2010 written statement, Gov. O’Malley wrote that the BOAST bill would increase scholarships for children in low- and middle-income families, helping to stabilize enrollment in nonpublic schools.

“I believe the bill is crucial if we are to stem the tide of private school closures in the state.” Gov. O’Malley said.

He wrote that school closures “represent a loss of educational diversity and opportunity for our students and will ultimately increase costs and enrollment pressures on our public school systems.”

Catholic schools alone save the state more than $713 million in annual per-pupil costs, according to the Catholic Conference.

Below, check out these startling enrollment reports prepared by the Maryland Catholic Conference. If you think Catholic schools are a vital part of Maryland’s educational system, contact your state representatives today and tell them to support BOAST.

As always, stay with The Catholic Review for much more on this important story in the coming months.

Forty one Catholic schools have closed in Maryland since 2002. (Maryland Catholic Conference graph)

Total Catholic school enrollment in Maryland has declined from 64,283 in 2002-03 to 52,875 in 2010-11. (Maryland Catholic Conference graph)

(Maryland Catholic Conference graph)