Legislatures Gone Wild: 5 Bills Causing Big Stirs

(April 22) -- When Arizona legislators voted Monday for a "birther bill" that would require President Barack Obama to produce his birth certificate if he wants his name to appear on the state's 2012 ballot, the measure made national news -- as has a tough immigration proposal there that critics say would legalize racial profiling. But the Grand Canyon State hardly has a lock on hot-button legislation -- there are controversial bills causing big stirs across this great and fractious land.

The Issue: Microchip Implantation Prevention
The Bill: Georgia Senate Bill 235
The Background: Discussed last week in Georgia's House Judiciary Committee, the bill would prohibit requiring a person to be implanted with a microchip. Though not an active threat facing Georgians, some commentators misread a provision of national health care reform -- which did not make it into the final package signed by Obama -- as mandating such a procedure. Interestingly, Georgia SB 235's four sponsors include two people named Chip (Pearson and Rogers).
The Blowback: Critics argue that this bill addresses an issue that has never, well, been an issue.

The Issue: Pre-Abortion Ultrasounds
The Bill: Oklahoma House Bill 2780
The Background: One of five abortion-related bills passed this week by the Oklahoma State Senate, HB 2780 would require doctors to use a vaginal probe (as opposed to a typical ultrasound) at least one hour prior to performing some abortions. Physicians would be obliged to perform the procedure in cases where it would produce a clearer picture of the fetus than an abdominal transducer would.
The Blowback: Critics say this bill, passed three times by the Oklahoma House during the past two years, is intended to deter abortions simply by making it more uncomfortable to get one.

The Issue: Transgender Civil Rights
The Bills: Massachusetts House Bill 1728 and Senate Bill 1687
The Background: Massachusetts' anti-discrimination and hate-crime laws already cover race, religion and sexual orientation. This bill would add "gender identity'' to the list.
The Blowback: Opponents say the bill would allow individuals to select which public bathrooms, locker rooms and changing rooms to use based not on their birth gender but on their "gender identity or expression." In other words, they say, if a man says he's feeling like a woman, the law says he can use the ladies room. And because of that, the argument goes, the so-called "Bathroom Bill" would make life easier for rapists and molesters. The legislation has become a big issue in the state's gubernatorial race, with Republican candidate Charlie Baker announcing that as governor, he would veto the measure, despite the fact that his choice for lieutenant governor, who is gay, is one of its sponsors.

The Issue: Adoption by Unmarried Parents
The Bill: Louisiana Senate Bill 521
The Background: Currently, if a child born in Louisiana ends up being adopted elsewhere, Louisiana will re-issue a birth certificate that includes the names of the adoptive parents. But if SB 521 passes, the state will end that practice for adoptions by unmarried couples.
The Blowback: Because same-sex marriage is forbidden in most states, this bill is clearly meant to penalize gay couples who want to adopt children, say its opponents.

The Issue: Legal Tender
The Bill: South Carolina House Bill 4501
The Background: Introduced in the South Carolina House in February and picking up sponsors ever since, the bill would ban "the unconstitutional substitution of Federal Reserve Notes for silver and gold coin" in South Carolina. In other words: The state would no longer recognize paper money -- just silver and gold coins.
The Blowback: Legal experts say it's not the substitution of Federal Reserve Notes that's unconstitutional; it's this bill. In the words of one quoted in the The Palmetto Scoop: "We settled this debate in the early 1800s."