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Friday, August 15, 2008

Ind. Law - "Vanderburgh commissioners pass abortion regulations"

"Physician seeks law for post-op" was the headline of a story by Amanda Iacone published Aug. 9th in the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette. It reported:

A local gynecologist has asked the Allen County Commissioners to consider a local law that could enhance follow-up care for surgery patients but could also affect a local abortion provider.

The commissioners heard the request Friday from Dr. Geoff Cly, who wants the county to require all surgeons and doctors that provide outpatient invasive procedures to have ties to a local hospital and have on-call, after-hours staff to handle emergencies. * * *

Most local doctors have admitting privileges with local hospitals, but doctors who are transient and come to Fort Wayne only during the day are among the groups that may not have such privileges, Cly said.

The doctor who performs abortions for the lone clinic in Fort Wayne is based in South Bend. Dr. George Klopfer also works in Gary. Klopfer questioned whether county government had jurisdiction to require such a change when he is already licensed through the state.

He said the county couldn’t enforce such a law and that it would likely end up in a lengthy court battle.

Besides the local abortion clinic, such a law would affect other doctors such as plastic surgeons, dentists, and even podiatrists. An out-of-town specialist flown in to assist a hospital patient could no longer be of service because he or she wouldn’t have privileges, Klopfer said. * * *

But a local pro-choice activist felt the proposal was a strange way to limit women’s choices locally. Joan Uebelhoer with the Fort Wayne Feminists said if there is a problem with patient safety in Allen County, the commissioners aren’t suited to fix it.

“I can’t believe that the commissioners would even get involved in such a thing. What is it their business, either legally or personally?” Uebelhoer said. “This is just another way to take woman’s decision-making abilities from her.”

A similar battle has been waged previously in the Indiana legislature.

This year, Cly testified in support of Senate Bill 146, which would have required physicians who perform abortions to have admitting privileges at a hospital in the county or in a county adjacent to where the abortion is performed, and to notify the patient of the hospital location where the patient can receive follow-up care by the physician.

Today Thomas B. Langhorne reports in the Evansville Courier & Press in a story that begins:
Without mentioning the word "abortion" or using it on their public meeting agenda, Vanderburgh County Commissioners unanimously passed an "abortion provider patient safety" ordinance on first and final reading recently. There was no debate.

According to the Associated Press, the ordinance states a doctor may not perform an abortion in Vanderburgh County without having local hospital admitting privileges in the county or an adjacent county. The doctor also must inform the patient where she can receive follow-up care in case of complications.

The ordinance appears on the County Commissioners' Aug. 5 public meeting agenda as "CO.08-08-018 Patient Safety Ordinance." According to meeting minutes and audio and video tapes of the meeting, Commissioners President Jeff Korb called for a motion to waive second reading on what he called "the patient safety ordinance." Korb did not use the word "abortion."

In a procedure that took about 45 seconds, Korb and Commissioners Bill Nix and Troy Tornatta voted first to waive the second reading and then to approve the ordinance. None of them mentioned abortion or discussed the ordinance.

And Ken Kusmer of the AP has a story today headed "Backers of abortion restriction shift strategy" by the Indianapolis Star that reports:
Abortion foes frustrated at the state level are turning to counties to win legislation requiring doctors who perform the procedure to have admitting privileges at local hospitals.

The Vanderburgh County commissioners in Evansville quietly passed such an ordinance last week, and activists are seeking a similar ordinance in Allen County, home to the Fort Wayne Women's Health Organization abortion clinic. Backers say such measures protect patient safety, but abortion providers say they restrict women's access to the procedure.

Local measures mark a shift in strategy for anti-abortion activists, who during the past two legislative sessions watched the state Senate - but not the Indiana House of Representatives - pass bills that would require doctors who perform abortions to have privileges at a local hospital. Measures must pass both chambers to become law. * * *

At first glance, the Vanderburgh ordinance might seem inconsequential, since the Ohio River county has no abortion clinics. Indiana has nine in all, but none south of Bloomington. They provided 10,224 abortions in 2005, the last year for which the Indiana State Department of Health has statistics.

However, Fichter called the passage of the Vanderburgh ordinance, apparently the first of its kind in Indiana, a victory because it makes it harder to establish an abortion clinic in an area of the state that doesn't have one. Some doctors providing abortions in Indiana travel among several clinics that are many miles apart and might not have local hospital admitting privileges.

Right to Life has targeted other "priority counties," Fichter said without identifying them.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on August 15, 2008 09:57 AM
Posted to Indiana Law