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DHH Gets Earful on Abortion Clinic Rules

Sue Lincoln

Louisiana’s Department of Health and Hospitals held a public hearing Thursday, accepting comments on proposed regulations for licensing abortion clinics. No one spoke in favor of the new rules; instead, all the comments were in opposition.

The proposed rules include provisions from legislation passed last year, HB 388, now Act 620. The law, authored by Rep. Katrina Jackson of Monroe, requires doctors working in abortion clinics to have admitting privileges at a nearby hospital. Ellie Schilling, a reproductive rights attorney from New Orleans, said these new regulations reach far beyond HB 388.

“They could have passed one regulation to implement that legislation. Instead, they are attempting to pass 23 pages of new regulations,” Schilling stated.

DHH issued an official statement about the proposals, and their purpose: “The rule changes considered at the public hearing are intended to clarify regulations for providers, ensure the safety of Louisiana women and children, and create a single place in Louisiana rule where all requirements are outlined."

Julie Finger, a physician, was among the more than 50 people who attended the hearing. She said the DHH’s purpose for the rules is far different that what is claimed.

“These regulations do nothing to promote patient safety or well-being,” Dr. Finger stated emphatically. “They are instead a politically motivated and targeted attack on abortion providers.”

Rev. Darcy Roake, a Unitarian minister from New Orleans, told state health officials the proposed regulations are “not just, equitable or compassionate.”

“They are not just because they unfairly target a legal, elective surgery under the guise of safety. They are not equitable because they limit women’s ability to receive health care,” Roake said. “Most importantly, they are not compassionate, because they dictate reproductive choices, and limit a woman’s right to determine what she does with her God-given body.”

Among the provisions, the proposed rules say clinics can lose their license for myriad reasons—from a natural disaster to failing to get DHH permission for clinic renovations.

“Should I be afraid of the state of Louisiana if I decide to do renovations? Asked medical student Allison Chapman. “What if I were to decide to change my handicap access ramp?”

Dr. Finger says the reporting requirements of the new rules could expose patients and clinic employees to potential violence by abortion opponents.

“They place an onerous burden on the clinics for documentation and reporting, but don’t give the clinics any assurance of safeguarding provider or patient privacy,” Finger worried aloud.

A federal restraining order currently prohibits DHH from enforcing the admitting privileges law passed last spring. A hearing for the lawsuit challenging that law’s constitutionality is currently set for March 30.

DHH is accepting public comments on these new regulations, in writing, through 4:30 p.m., Friday January 30, 2015.