Governor critical of proposed abortion and commandment legislation

Governor Tom Vilsack says he’s “troubled” by a bill which would install a 24-hour waiting period for women who seek an abortion. The bill also would charge doctors who “recklessly” perform abortions with a crime. Vilsack says he hasn’t heard the public calling for work on this issue.Vilsack says he’ll be surprised if the legislation lands on his desk. The bill cleared the Iowa House last week, and sits on the Senate’s debate agenda. It calls for the government to provide women seeking an abortion with all sorts of information about what could happen were she to decide to keep the baby, or put it up for adoption.Vilsack’s own church, the Roman Catholic Church, is lobbying for the bill.The governor says he believes it should be an individual’s decision based on their own moral code and their own relationship with god and their doctor.On another topic involving religion, the governor today ridiculed Republican attempts to post the Ten Commandments at the statehouse. A resolution before the Iowa Senate calls for posting the religious document in the Senate chamber at the capitol.Vilsack says he has the Ten Commandments on his statehouse desk, but doesn’t believe the document should be posted. Others suggest the Commandments should be posted in Iowa’s public schools. Vilsack says it’s not a question of whether to post the commandments, it’s a question of whether people are following them.Vilsack, who is a Roman Catholic, cluched his grandmother’s rosary when riding out an earthquake in Taiwan.