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PHOENIX — Nurse practitioners with special training can perform first-term abortions in Arizona, the state Board of Nursing decided Wednesday.

The panel concluded that the procedure of "aspiration abortions," in which the fetus is vacuumed out of the uterus, is within the legal scope of practice for nurses with advanced training and experience.

The board rejected contentions of the anti-abortion Center for Arizona Policy that letting anyone other than a doctor terminate a pregnancy violates Arizona law.

Wednesday's vote, which came with one dissent, legalizes most of what Mary Andrews has been doing at a Tucson clinic of Planned Parenthood Arizona since 2001. It also opens the door for other nurse practitioners to begin performing the procedure.

The board also concluded that nurse practitioners cannot legally do abortions beyond the 13th week of pregnancy.

Carol Bafaloukos, a spokeswoman for Planned Parenthood, said Andrews has been terminating pregnancies using that same procedure through 16 weeks since 2001.

But board members chose to impose no penalty, saying they have never before ruled that second-trimester abortions should not be done by nurse practitioners. And Andrews said she stopped performing those abortions in March and will not do them in the future.

Bafaloukos said Planned Parenthood uses a nurse practitioner to perform abortions because the demand for services exceeds what its doctors can provide in Southern Arizona.

She said the decision to bar Andrews and other nurse practitioners from terminating pregnancies when a fetus is beyond 13 weeks might result in some delays for women at that stage because they now will have to wait for doctors.

Wednesday's action does not end the dispute.

The state House already has approved legislation sponsored by Rep. Bob Stump, R-Peoria, which would spell out that only a physician can perform an abortion. HB 2269, which would overrule any board decision, awaits Senate debate.

Deborah Sheasby, attorney for the Center for Arizona Policy, said even if Stump's bill fails or is vetoed, she believes existing statutes already make it clear that nurse practitioners cannot perform abortions.

Nursing is generally regulated in state law, but the scope of procedures generally is spelled out in regulations. Nothing in those rules mentions abortions. They say nurses with certain training may "perform therapeutic procedures that the registered nurse practitioner is qualified to perform."

Wednesday's board vote clarifies for the first time that aspiration abortions performed in the first 13 weeks of pregnancy fit that definition.

But Stump, who chairs the House Health Committee, said the Legislature should decide who gets to terminate a pregnancy, getting House members to approve on a 32-28 vote.

Even if the Senate goes along, the odds may be against the measure becoming law. While Gov. Janet Napolitano does not comment on pending legislation, she already has vetoed two measures this session designed to put new abortion restrictions in statute.