“It seems like the Supreme Court is passing everything down to the states, and we want to make sure we protect a woman’s right to choose,” he said Friday.

The legislation would place a question on the 2020 ballot about whether to amend the state constitution to include abortion protections. Busch said withdrawing the measure will not affect that timeline. Still, he had hoped to settle the issue this year, he said, because “a woman’s right to choose has been attacked” on the state and federal level.

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The increasingly conservative high court this month narrowly blocked a restrictive Louisiana abortion law from taking effect. But there are at least 20 other lawsuits in the pipeline that could significantly change abortion protections laid out in the 1973 Roe v. Wade Supreme Court ruling and refined almost two decades later in Planned Parenthood v. Casey.

“We’ve had discussions with the president of the Senate and he doesn’t want to take it up until next year,” Busch said. “But I promise you. We are still committed to it.”

Busch said he thought the bill, which has 53 House sponsors, was “pretty much a no-brainer” and was surprised by the lack of enthusiasm from Miller (D-Calvert).

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Jake Weissmann, Miller’s chief of staff, said the Senate president has repeatedly said he has no plans to move forward with any constitutional amendments this year, adding that referendums should be passed the same year they go before the voters.

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He said Miller’s stance was not a reaction to recent outcries over bills related to late-term abortions in New York and Virginia. Republicans, including President Trump, have seized on those debates in hopes of rallying their antiabortion base in the 2020 election. The backlash has stymied Democratic efforts in some states to bolster abortion protections. Democrats in New Mexico and Vermont have recently taken legislative steps toward protecting abortion rights.

Weissmann said Miller is not convinced that a constitutional amendment is needed in Maryland, because “a woman’s right to choose is already enshrined in our law.”

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A 1992 state law allows women to seek abortions without interference if the fetus is not viable outside the womb. A woman may terminate a pregnancy even after that point if the fetus has a “genetic defect or serious anomaly” or if an abortion is necessary to protect the health of the mother.

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The constitutional amendment, which needed a three-fifths vote in each chamber of the General Assembly, would have asked voters to decide if people should “have the right to bodily integrity and privacy to make personal decisions about childbearing and procreation without unwarranted government intrusion.”

Busch said rather than engage in a battle with Miller over the bill, he decided to withdraw it. “We have too many things at risk to get in an argument for something that can’t go on the ballot until 2020,” he said.

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Nine other states have abortion protections in their constitutions, according to the Center for Reproductive Rights: Alaska, California, Florida, Iowa, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Montana, New Jersey and New Mexico.

State Sen. Cheryl C. Kagan (D-Montgomery) said she was hopeful Maryland “might have taken action this year in the terrifying event that the Trump Supreme Court votes to outlaw women’s reproductive choice.”

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But abortion rights advocates declined to criticize Miller, noting that protections already in place in Maryland are stronger than in many other states.

“We really appreciate our legislators having a great interest in protecting reproductive rights,” said Diana Philip, the director of NARAL Pro-Choice Maryland. “But I think that all of us want to take the time to make sure that if we do anything more in adding to the protections that we already have, we should take the time to do what’s best.”

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Karen J. Nelson, president and chief executive of Planned Parenthood, called Busch “a champion” for women’s health care.

“The idea of having an added layer of protection for women’s health care is important, but as you know in Maryland for many, many years, Roe has been codified,” Nelson said. “The patients in Maryland have the right to obtain an abortion legally and that will remain so.”

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Busch said he wants to stave off legislative attempts to do away with abortion protections. He said Republicans are increasingly introducing antiabortion bills in Maryland and he expects amendments on health-care bills will be aimed at attacking a woman’s right to choose.

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