by Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
Staff Writer
(March 7, 2008) Only a day after news broke that an Arizona nurse admitted to performing abortions at a Planned Parenthood clinic, a state House committee voted 6-3 to prohibit nurse practitioners from performing abortions in that state.
The bill, HB 2269, does not specifically mention the nurse, Mary Andrews, but it will effectively stop her, and all other nurses in the state, from performing abortions.
Andrews had “self-reported” to the state Board of Nursing on March 5, saying that she had been performing abortions for eight years and requested permission to continue to do so.
During the proceedings of the Arizona State House Health Committee, it was revealed that the Board of Nursing had investigated a complaint against Andrews last year. Valerie Smith, the agency’s associate director for investigations and compliance, told the Arizona Daily Star that board members considered the matter in November but were unable to make a decision.
They are still investigating the matter to determine if Andrews is doing anything illegal according to the regulations, which make no specific mention of abortion. Instead, they merely state that nurses are entitled to “perform therapeutic procedures that the registered nurse practitioner is qualified to perform.”
Michelle Steinberg, a spokeswoman for Planned Parenthood, admitted that her organization has been using a nurse practitioner for eight years “with fewer complications than the national average.”
She said there was no evidence that abortions performed by nurse practitioners are unsafe and that they perform more complicated procedures. “There’s nothing to indicate that nurse practitioners are not within the scope of practice to do this,” she said, and added that more complex procedures, particularly if a woman is further along in her pregnancy, are always are performed by a doctor.
Even though the Board of Nursing has yet to decide on the case, Rep. Bob Stump, R-Peoria, who chairs the House Health Committee, said he sees no reason to wait until the Board makes a ruling. The issue of who gets to do what should be defined by the Legislature, he said.
© All Rights Reserved, Living His Life Abundantly/Women of Grace. http://www.womenofgrace.com
