Thu, Aug 28, 2008

Tucson Region

Lawmakers advance 2 new abortion curbs

But bills could end up in gov's wastebasket
By Howard Fischer
Capitol Media Services
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 06.19.2008
PHOENIX — State lawmakers voted Wednesday to approve two new restrictions on abortions.
But one, if not both, could end up being vetoed.
The Senate, on a voice vote, gave preliminary approval to a ban on allowing nurse practitioners to perform surgical abortions.
That move comes just a month after the state Board of Nursing concluded that practitioners with special training are medically qualified to do the procedure.
That isn't the belief of Rep. Bob Stump, R-Peoria, sponsor of House Bill 2269. He said only doctors should terminate a pregnancy, at least in part because of possible complications.
Separately, the House gave final approval to Senate Bill 1048, which would make "partial-birth" abortions illegal in Arizona. The state's original ban on such abortions, approved in 1997, was blocked by a federal judge before it ever took effect.
That measure now goes to Gov. Janet Napolitano.
Napolitano vetoed a slightly different version of the partial-birth-abortion bill earlier this year. And while lawmakers altered provisions she did not like, the governor said she would prefer they spend their time trying to prevent unwanted pregnancies rather than interfering with a woman's relationship with her doctor.
Napolitano has never before dealt with the question of whether people other than doctors can perform abortions. But she has consistently vetoed legislation she believes restricts access to the procedure.
Restricted access for women is exactly what a spokeswoman for Planned Parenthood of Arizona, Carol Bafaloukos, says will happen if the organization cannot use nurse practitioners. Bafaloukos said the demand for abortion at Planned Parenthood's Tucson clinic is greater than the availability of doctors.
Planned Parenthood has allowed Mary Andrews, a nurse practitioner, to perform abortions in Tucson since 2001. But that fact was not widely known until a complaint was filed against her with the Board of Nursing.
Nursing Board members, after studying the issue, concluded last month that the act of "aspiration abortion," in which the fetus up to 13 weeks of age is vacuumed out of the uterus, is within the legal scope of practice of nurses with advanced training and experience. They specifically rejected the contentions of an attorney for the anti-abortion Center for Arizona Policy that letting anyone other than a doctor terminate a pregnancy violates Arizona law.
The board's decision would be voided if Stump's measure becomes law.
Backers of his bill said the issue is strictly one of patient safety. But the legislation is being pushed heavily not just by the Center for Arizona Policy but also by Ron Johnson, who lobbies on behalf of the state's Catholic bishops.