The Louisiana legislature passed the Unsafe Abortion Protection Act, House Bill 388, on May 21. The bill requires physicians who perform abortions to have admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles of the abortion clinic.
The bill, sponsored by State Rep. Katrina Jackson, D-Monroe, also requires that abortion facilities provide the same informed consent procedures and 24-hour waiting period for both surgical and drug-induced abortions. These procedures include a booklet depicting the development of a fetus and alternatives to abortion, and an ultrasound.
If any of Louisiana’s five abortion clinics cannot meet the requirements, they will be forced to shut their doors.
Supporters of the bill, including the Louisiana Secretary of Health and Hospitals Kathy Kliebert, say that the bill is about protecting women’s health.
Benjamin Clapper, executive director for Louisiana Right to Life Federation, a group that lobbies against abortion in the state, said his organization hopes to see how the bill will help keep women seeking abortions safe.
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists said in a news release that it disagrees with the admitting privilege requirements of HB 388 and similar bills in other states.
“Abortion is a very safe procedure, and complications requiring hospital admission are extremely rare,” the realease said. “There is no medical basis to require abortion providers to have local hospital admitting privileges.”
Acccording to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports between 2004-2009, pregnancy-related deaths of mothers are 25 times more common than abortion-related deaths of women.
A similar bill was passed in Texas in July 2013, and is expected to close 30 of the state’s 36 abortion clinics by September 1. An all-female panel of judges from the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the constitutionality of the Texas law.
“People need to focus on why these abortion physicians cannot obtain these pretty basic admission privileges in the hospital,” Clapper said.
HB 1453, signed into law in 2010, excludes health care providers who perform abortions from coverage under state and private Medical Malpractice Acts. Critics of HB 388 are worried this lack of malpractice coverage will keep Louisiana hospitals from granting admission privileges to physicians working in abortion clinics.
Gov. Bobby Jindal tweeted on May 21, “Looking forward to signing HB 388 by @Repkjackson. This bill will give women the health and safety protection they deserve.”