« Ind. Courts - "Judge to resume Muncie-Delaware County Drug Task Force hearings" | Main | Ind. Courts - 7th Circuit decides one Indiana case today »

Friday, September 26, 2008

Ind. Law - "County abortion regulations closely watched in Indiana"

Judy Keen reports in USA Today:

Abortion opponents in Indiana are encouraging passage of regulations at the county level that abortion-rights groups say might be the leading edge of a nationwide effort to limit access to the procedure.

Two Indiana counties have passed ordinances that require doctors who perform abortions to have the authority to admit patients at local hospitals. A third county is considering a similar measure.

Some abortion clinics are staffed by doctors who are based elsewhere and are unlikely to have admitting privileges at local hospitals, so the rules present a new obstacle for abortion providers.

"Absolutely, it's a new strategy," says Mike Fichter, president of Indiana Right to Life. The ordinances ensure that women with complications after abortions can quickly get medical care, he says, but he hopes they also make abortions harder to get. * * *

Action so far in Indiana:

• Vanderburgh County commissioners last month voted unanimously to require doctors who perform abortions in the county to have admitting privileges there or in an adjacent county.

The county has no abortion clinic. Mary Ellen Van Dyke of Vanderburgh County Right to Life, says the measure was proposed after the Indiana Legislature failed to pass a similar law this year.

• Dubois County, which has no abortion clinic, passed the regulation last month. "We want to get out ahead of it where we can prevent" one from opening, says Commissioner Larry Vollmer.

• In Allen County, where there is an abortion clinic staffed by a doctor from another county, commissioners haven't scheduled a vote. They are considering broadening a proposed ordinance to include all "itinerant" medical procedures such as laser eye surgery, Commissioner Nelson Peters says.

If Allen County votes to require hospital admitting privileges, her group would consider legal action, Mizrahi says. The group says the ordinance would encroach on state authority.

For background, see these ILB entries on Vanderburgh County, and these on Allen County from 9/22/08, 9/5/08, 9/4/08 and 9/3/08.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on September 26, 2008 09:59 AM
Posted to Indiana Law