Committee hears proposal for further abortion restrictions

A proposal to tighten restrictions on chemical abortions ran into opposition at a legislative hearing Thursday.

Sen. Rick Holdcroft is the lead introducer of the proposed abortion restrictions. They would apply to abortions induced by drugs, as opposed to surgery. Such drug-induced abortions currently account for more than 80% of abortions within Nebraska’s 12-week limit, according to Holdcroft.

His bill (LB512) would require patients seeking such abortions to be screened for ectopic pregnancies. It would require the doctor providing the drugs to schedule a followup visit with the woman 3 to 14 days after providing the pills. And it would require reporting complications to the Department of Health and Human Services.

Holdcroft, who has supported previous restrictions on abortion, described his reason for introducing the legislation.

“No matter how any of us feels about the issue of abortion, we can all agree that no pregnant woman should ever be neglected or endangered by a careless abortion provider,” Holdcroft said.

Holdcroft was particularly critical of the CARE abortion clinic in Bellevue, where he said out-of-state physicians rotate through every week and are not available for follow up visits.

A request for reaction from the clinic was not immediately answered.

But Adelle Burke of Planned Parenthood, which operates Nebraska’s other abortion clinic in Omaha, opposed the legislation.

“We oppose LB512 because it is unnecessary government overreach and interferes with best practices for medical care,” Burke said. "Health care decisions, including abortion, should be guided by medicine and science, not determined by politicians arbitrarily choosing how or when a person can access care."

Burke said Planned Parenthood already provides follow up care, including giving patients a phone number for an on-call nurse and direct phone follow up one and four weeks after an abortion.

Supporting the proposal, Adam Schwend of the Susan B. Anthony Prolife America praised its requirement for physicians to schedule follow up visits.

“Of course, the mother may or may not show up to this appointment, but she is given that choice,” Schwend said. "We are often lectured on two points by the abortion industry: that this is an issue of choice, and that is a matter between a woman and her doctor. This provides the choice of care and gives her an opportunity to follow up with the actual doctor that actually examined her and actually prescribed the abortion drugs."

Testifying for the Nebraska Medical Association, Dr. Elizabeth Constance opposed the bill. Constance said the group consistently opposes measures that interfere with physicians’ clinical judgement.

Dr. Emily Patel, an OB-GYN, also opposed the bill.

“LB512, the 'Chemical Abortion Safety Protocol Act,' is a thinly veiled attempt to make abortion care more difficult under the guise of safety,” Patel said.

Patel said that while abortion drugs are regulated, no such restrictions apply to Viagra, which is available online.

It will now be up to the Health and Human Services Committee to decide whether or not to advance the bill to the full Legislature for debate.

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