California Senate Poised to O.K. Non-Physician Abortions

CPLC Press Release | May 6, 2002 | California Pro-Life Council

[Saundra Duffy]

Press Advisory May 6, 2002

CALIFORNIA SENATE POISED TO O.K. NON-PHYSICIAN ABORTIONS

Under the guise of an affirmation of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision imposing liberal abortion laws on the fifty states, is a radical change in California abortion law, which will put women’s lives in jeopardy. SB 1301, which could be on the Senate floor as soon as Thursday, would remove the 35-year-old law that permits only “a holder of the physician’s and surgeon’s certificate” to perform abortions.

The Reproductive Privacy Act, which would replace the 1967 Therapeutic Abortion Act, is authored by Senator Sheila Kuehl (D-Santa Monica). While it retains physician-only surgical abortions, it allows unnamed others (perhaps nurse-midwifes, nurse practitioners, etc.) to perform drug abortions if they hold a license or certificate “to perform or assist in performing the functions necessary for a nonsurgical abortion.”

As recently as April 19, the federal Food and Drug Administration posted a letter on their website from Danco Laboratories, the manufacturer of RU 486, informing physicians that two women have died after RU 486 abortions, and one 21 year-old suffered cardiac arrest—a rare occurrence in a woman that age. The two who died suffered a bacterial infection in one case and a uterine rupture due to an undiagnosed ectopic pregnancy in the other. Another near-fatal bacterial infection, and two additional uterine ruptures due to undiagnosed ectopic pregnancies prompted Danco and the FDA to release the warning and ask physicians to report any additional “adverse events.”

Jan Carroll, Legislative Analyst for California ProLife, cautioned that “arguments by proponents of non-physician abortions that nurse midwives, nurse practitioners, etc., would still operate within their ‘scope of practice’ are disingenuous. Removing the law that bars non-physician abortions at once changes their scope of practice.”

“Only physicians can follow-up with surgical abortions when RU 486 fails. Only physicians should judge whether these and many other contraindications to a drug abortion have been appropriately considered and whether the pregnancy falls within the narrow 49-day limit for using the deadly drug. Abortion advocates have always argued that abortion is a matter between a woman and her doctor—SB 1301 changes that to anyone with a “certificate,” regardless of expertise. California women deserve better than this,” said Carroll.

CALIFORNIA SENATE:

Dick Ackerman (R-33), 916-445-4264, FAX 445-9754, Senator.Ackerman@sen.ca.gov

Richard Alarcon (D-20), 916-445-7928, FAX 324-6645, Senator.Alarcon@sen.ca.gov

Dede Alpert (D-39), 916-445-3952, FAX 327-2188, Senator.Alpert@sen.ca.gov

Jim Battin (R-37), 916-445-5581, FAX 327-2187, Jim.Battin@sen.ca.gov

Debra Bowen (D-28), 916-445-5953, FAX 323-6056, Senator.Bowen@sen.ca.gov

Jim Brulte (R-31), 916-445-3688, FAX 327-2272, Senator.Brulte@sen.ca.gov

John Burton (D-3), 916-445-1412, FAX 445-4722

Wesley Chesbro (D-2), 916-445-3375, FAX 323-6958, Senator.Chesbro@sen.ca.gov

Jim Costa (D-16), 916-445-4641, FAX 327-5989, Senator.Costa@sen.ca.gov

Joseph Dunn (D-34), 916-445-5831, FAX 323-2323, Senator.Dunn@sen.ca.gov

Martha Escutia (D-30), 916-327-8315, FAX 327-8755, Senator.Escutia@sen.ca.gov

Liz Figueroa (D-10), 916-445-6671, FAX 327-2433, Senator.Figueroa@sen.ca.gov

Ray Haynes (R-36), 916-445-9781, FAX 447-9008, Senator.Haynes@sen.ca.gov

Maurice Johannessen (R-4), 916-445-3353, FAX 445-7750, David.Pegos@sen.ca.gov

Ross Johnson (R-35), 916-445-4961, FAX 949-833-0180, Bill.Bailey@sen.ca.gov

Betty Karnette (D-27), 916-445-6447, FAX 327-9113, Senator.Karnette@sen.ca.gov

Pete Knight (R-17), 916-445-6637, FAX 445-4662, Senator.Knight@sen.ca.gov

Sheila Kuehl (D-23), 916-445-1353, FAX 324-4823, Carol.Wallisch@sen.ca.gov

Mike Machado (D-5), 916-445-2407, FAX 323-2304, Senator.Machado@sen.ca.gov

Bob Margett (R-29), 916-445-2848, FAX 324-0922, Senator.Margett@sen.ca.gov

Tom McClintock (R-19), 916-445-8873, FAX 324-7544, Tom.McClintock@sen.ca.gov

Bruce McPherson (R-15), 916-445-5843, FAX 445-8081, Senator.McPherson@sen.ca.gov

Dick Monteith (R-12), 916-445-1392, FAX 445-0773, Senator.Monteith@sen.ca.gov

Bill Morrow (R-38), (916-445-3731, FAX 446-7382, Senator.Morrow@sen.ca.gov

Kevin Murray (D-26), 916-445-8800, FAX 445-8899, Senator.Murray@sen.ca.gov

Jack O'Connell (D-18), 916-445-5405, FAX 322-3304, Senator.O'Connell@sen.ca.gov

Rico Oller (D-1), 916-445-5788, FAX 324-2680, Rico.Oller@sen.ca.gov

Deborah Ortiz (D-6), 916-445-7807, FAX 323-2263, Senator.Ortiz@sen.ca.gov

Steve Peace (D-40), 916-445-6767, FAX 327-3522, Senator.Peace@sen.ca.gov

Don Perata (D-9), 916-445-6577, FAX 327-1997, Senator.Perata@sen.ca.gov

Richard G. Polanco (D), 916-445-3456, FAX 445-0413, Senator.Polanco@sen.ca.gov

Charles Poochigian (R-14), 916-445-9600, FAX 327-3523, Deborah.Gonzalez@sen.ca.gov

Gloria Romero (D-24), 916-445-1418, FAX 445-0485, Gloria.Romero@sen.ca.gov

Jack Scott (D-21), 916-445-1418, FAX 324-7543, Senator.Scott@sen.ca.gov

Byron Sher (D-11), 916-445-6747, FAX 323-4529, Senator.Sher@sen.ca.gov

Nell Soto, D-32), 916-445-6868, FAX 445-0128, Senator.Soto@sen.ca.gov

Jackie Speier (D-8), 916-445-0503, FAX 327-2186, Senator.Speier@sen.ca.gov

Tom Torlakson (D-7), 916-445-6083, FAX 445-2527, Senator.Torlakson@sen.ca.gov

John Vasconcellos (D), 916-445-9740, FAX 324-0283, Senator.Vasconcellos@sen.ca.gov

Edward Vincent (D), 916-445-2104, FAX 445-3712, Anne.Garcia@sen.ca.gov

[Saundra Duffy]

More breast cancer on the horizon spread by abortions. Go to www.AbortionBreastCancer.com for more information about the ABC Link.

[mhking]

Non-Physician Abortions

Is that something like letting Mike Tyson haul off and slug you in the breadbasket?

[Saundra Duffy]

Mike Tyson is kind of like an abortionist, isn't he?

[ecomcon]

Nah. Abortion is great. It improves your quality of life. Everyone should have one.

[Psalm 73]

Look here - Mo' money, Mo' Money, MO' MONEY...
It's all about the money. Sad but true.

[LarryLied]

Drive-thru abortion clinics are next. Or maybe Abortuaries-on-Wheels for those without transportation.

And what is the deal with needing a Doctor to assist with suicide? Any HS grad could handle that job.

[Saundra Duffy]

Well, that's true enough. "It's all about $." However, it's also all about power and control and eugenics.

[Saundra Duffy]

Drive-thru abortions can't ever happen. An abortion is an excruciatingly painful experience - a bloody mess (in more ways than one).

[Enterprise]

Money might be at the root of this. However, I think studies have shown that a lot of physicians don't want to do abortions because of the heat it can bring on them. Most medical students don't want to specialize in this practice either. I read somewhere that abortion classes will be made mandatory core curriculum in some medical schools. The left is still very powerful. This is an outstanding example of how they shove their agenda down our throats. If the doctor's don want to do abortions, then the standards will be changed to find people who WILL do them. Life is too important to be left in the hands of physicians.

[fhillary2]

So the proposed legislation would allow anybody with a hanger and an alley to perform abortions?

Now that's NARAL's idea of progress!

[Saundra Duffy]

Most medical students don't want to specialize in this practice either.

The ones who want to get FILTHY RICH want to specialize in abortion. If only we knew how much money those creeps are raking in hand over fist!

[Psalm 73]

"Life is too important to be left in the hands of physicians."

What an ironic thing to say regarding the slaughter of babies for profit.

[gunshy]

"Or maybe Abortuaries-on-Wheels for those without transportation."

This has the makings of a great idea. You haven't copyrighted the name have you?

[LarryLied]

Suspect I'm too late to do it now :-)

[Saundra Duffy]

Abortuaries-on-Wheels

What a perfectly ghoulish concept. I hope Planned Parenthood never gets wind of this; they'll create a whole new industry.

[valkyrieanne]

Actually, this is a pretty serious threat. Missouri has a law which explicitly states that *only* a physician may perform an abortion. If abortion were opened up to the nurse practitioners, midwives, and physicians' assistants, that would make abortion more readily available because there are probably more of these people who would do abortions.

Someone would still have to sign off on their charts and they would somehow have to obtain insurance, but the reason the abortion industry is so interested in non-MD abortions is because they know that the # of MDs performing them will always be very limited by pro-life pressure & peer pressure. Many of the women who work in abortion clinics (like the nurses and "counselors") are not vulnerable to peer pressure and protests in the same way the MDs are. (For one thing, many of them are probably raving feminists who could care less what their neighbors etc. think of them, or their equally liberal neighbors will probably see them as "heroes.")

[Saundra Duffy]

So the proposed legislation would allow anybody with a hanger and an alley to perform abortions?

You are good. You are very good.

[Khepera]

[Khepera]

Abortuaries-on-Wheels = easy terrorist targets.

[Saundra Duffy]

Thanks for pointing out the serious nature of this threat to human life. Sometimes - because THIS IS CALIFORNIA - I forget that there's a sane world out there somewhere. It seems so hopeless here in the Peoples Republic of Kalifornia where human life is TRASH.