Bill would allow non-physicians to perform abortions in California

The California state senate business, professions and economic development committee meets to discuss SB 1338 sposored by Democrat Christine Kehoe of San Diego next Monday, April 23 at 1:00 pm. See previous California Catholic story..

This bill would allow non-physicians to perform abortions in California, a practice that is currently illegal, by refining the meaning of “non-surgical.” 

If such a bill becomes law, it would mean that a current exception in the law permitting midwives and physicians’ assistants to perform ‘non-surgical abortions’ would also apply to abortions using uterine aspiration.

The following is a letter written on April 12 by Mary Davenport of ProLife Ob/Gyns:

Dear Members of the Business, Professions and Economic Development Committee:

As physicians who care deeply about the health of women, we oppose the idea of non-physicians performing any abortions, especially surgical abortions. A surgical abortion is SURGERY even though there is a long standing propaganda effort naming it “aspiration” abortion to minimize the seriousness of the operation.

For ordinary surgical standards of care, physicians need to not only be able to perform the procedure, but also deal with complications. It is required in any procedure (other than abortion) for the surgeon to have hospital privileges to deal with surgical problems. Mid-level practitioners do not have the depth of training to treat hemorrhage, uterine perforation, sepsis, damage to pelvic organs and other serious short-term complications that occur with 5% of surgical abortions.

California has long been among the worst of states in upholding standards in abortion clinics. It has turned a blind eye to substandard care in its many abortion clinics that prey on women of color. Our state is in disrepute among public health experts for being one of the few states that do not collect abortion statistics for the CDC, to monitor how women undergoing abortions are actually faring. California is notorious for the four mifepristone/RU-486 deaths that occurred in its unregulated clinics shortly after FDA approval of the drug. This debacle occurred just after the legislature changed the California abortion law to allow mid-level providers to perform medical abortions. It seems California is at risk of repeating this error, authorizing inferior care for women and dumping those with complications on emergency rooms without real post- surgical care.

I would hope those of you who support this law would rethink your position. It is only a matter of time before more tragedies occur if you go down the path of further deregulating abortion. Abortion is a serious matter that takes the life of an unborn child. It will also unnecessarily take the lives of women if you allow inadequately trained personnel without hospital privileges to perform surgical abortions.

Sincerely yours,

Mary L. Davenport, MD, FACOG

 

READER COMMENTS

Posted Wednesday, April 18, 2012 6:31 AM By Ted
How does making abortion less safe help anyone? The best thing would be to outlaw it, but making it legal for a person who isn’t a doctor to do it is simply insanity taken further than was already.

Posted Wednesday, April 18, 2012 6:48 AM By ANNE
All CA residents should write their elected officials in Sacramento asap. This bill is evil. Also be sure to be registered to Vote !

Posted Wednesday, April 18, 2012 7:44 AM By Sandra
Legislators who support a bill like this hate women, and do not care about their health. Wasn’t the woman who proposed this bill a lesbian?

Posted Wednesday, April 18, 2012 7:58 AM By Laurette Elsberry
Thank you, Dr. Davenport. Wouldn’t it be something if the popular media picked up on this story? Unfortunately, they are all pro-abortion, and if some women die or are mutilated, that’s the collateral damage of making the holy sacrament of abortion available to more young girls and women.

Posted Wednesday, April 18, 2012 8:20 AM By MD
This bill will bring forth the “WalMart” of abortion, substandard quality more affordable to the masses.

Posted Wednesday, April 18, 2012 8:47 AM By Patrick
As abortions are largely directed against Black and Latin Americans, such a bill would bring many more abortionists into the field to finally destroy all Blacks and Latin Americans as possible, finally achieving the stated goal of Planned Parenthood and other abortion proponents.

Posted Wednesday, April 18, 2012 10:52 AM By Life Lady
Since the media in CA and the rest of the country refuse to make this issue important enough to report on it, we pro-life advocates MUST step forward and protest, as loudly as we possibly can, the presence of this bill in our legislature. The person who brought this bill forward, Kristine Kehoe, was the daughter of a very Catholic family. Her father never missed a Sunday Mass with his large family, and Ms. Kehoe likely became a lesbian in her own twisted protest of everything that he stood for. She will not speak about that, likely because she is ashamed of her beginnings, as a Catholic, and in a Catholic family. It is a shame, on her and her family, that she would bring such a horrendous bill forward. Clearly none of us would perform our own surgery, nor would we ask our neighbor to either. This is what this bill is asking that we do, approve that I could become trained and do an abortion, without any consideration of the fact that abortion like any other surgery, is invasive, and major. I have witnessed one abortion, performed on a 14 year old, with no anesthesia, which is about as barbaric as it can get. Abortion is the slaughter of innocence, both on the part of the baby that is being ripped limb from limb, and on the mother who will lose a part of her spirit, and who will be damaged, whether she owns up to it or not, for the rest of her natural life. This cannot continue. We must rally and protest this bill, and call out the damaged woman who is promoting it. There is no rationale for having a lay person performing abortions, trained or not. The idea that more poor women would have access to abortion is ridiculous at its core. Ms. Kehoe is likely targeting poor women with this bill, and like Margaret Sanger, has bought the deadly pill of racism and classism. She must hate poor women and their children and would like to see them all dead and gone. Jesus asked that we protect the poor, and do to them as we would do to Him. We must protest.