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Friday, September 05, 2008
Ind. Law - Still more on: "Allen County bill may effectively limit abortion"
Updating this ILB entry from yesterday, quoting an Evansville Courier & Press editorial, the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette today has its own editorial. Some quotes:
The Allen County commissioners want to introduce a county ordinance today that will require doctors providing invasive outpatient procedures to have admitting privileges at a local hospital and have on-call, after-hours staff in case of postoperative emergencies. The commissioners drafted the ordinance after hearing anecdotal testimony from local gynecologist Geoff Cly, who is working with Allen County Right to Life to lobby for the added restrictions.Local abortion opponents claim the restrictions are needed because of reports about patients suffering from complications after an abortion, but they acknowledge there is no way to confirm or track the number of cases.
If the commissioners truly fear there is a rampant problem with health care providers who do not have hospital privileges or after-hours staff, they should seek the guidance of the Fort Wayne-Allen County Department of Health. The health department is vastly more qualified than the county commissioners to determine best practices for health care.
And after consulting with the health department, the commissioners should also seek legal counsel, because it’s unclear whether the county commissioners have jurisdiction to change the regulations governing physicians. State laws already regulate physician licensure.
The objective of improving health care is admirable, but this ordinance will not improve care for women seeking abortions or for anyone else. It is a disingenuous attempt to curtail legal abortions. * * *
Vanderburgh County commissioners passed a similar ordinance last month. With luck, Allen County’s commissioners will seek the advice of experts, specifically local health department officials, to forgo making a similar mistake.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on September 5, 2008 08:50 AM
Posted to Indiana Law