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PHOENIX — A Tucson nurse practitioner will be able to continue to perform abortions.

The state Senate fell two votes short Thursday of the 16 needed to approve a measure to require that all surgical abortions be performed only by a physician.

With the Legislature on track to adjourn for the year today, and several lawmakers absent, the chances the bill will be revived are virtually nil.

The issue arose when it became widely known that Mary Andrews, a nurse practitioner at Planned Parenthood Arizona, has been performing "aspiration abortions" at the agency's Tucson clinic since 2001.

That led to a complaint against her last year to the state Board of Nursing. The name of the person who filed the complaint is not public.

When the board did not immediately order Andrews to stop performing abortions, Rep. Bob Stump, R-Peoria, introduced House Bill 2269 to clearly restrict the practice to licensed physicians.

Nothing in state law specifically spells out that only doctors can terminate a pregnancy. But an attorney for the anti-abortion Center for Arizona Policy said references to abortion in other statutes show it was always the intent of lawmakers to restrict the practice to physicians.

Stump said his legislation is separate from his personal opposition to abortion. He said evidence was presented at a committee hearing that the complications that can result from the procedure are beyond the training of a nurse — even one with specialized training.

The nursing board, finally ruling last month, concluded otherwise. With only one dissent, it said a nurse practitioner who has advanced training is qualified to perform an abortion through the 13th week of pregnancy.

That ruling did trim what Andrews was doing a bit: She had been terminating pregnancies through 16 weeks.

Stump said state lawmakers are entitled to substitute their own judgment for that of the nursing board.

"Abortion is a surgical procedure," he said after the Senate killed his bill. "When surgical procedures of that sort are being performed, I think it's appropriate to have a doctor on hand in case of complications."

Thursday's vote is a victory for Planned Parenthood. An organization representative had said it cannot get enough doctors in Tucson to keep up with the demand for abortion.

Stump said it will be up to someone else to revive the issue next session: He is not seeking re-election but instead is seeking a seat on the Arizona Corporation Commission.