North Carolina’s Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) announced a proposal Monday for tighter regulations on abortion clinics. No abortion clinics will be forced to close as long as they already provide adequate care, according to state health officials.
However, if an abortion clinic does not meet these regulations, it will be forced to either upgrade to meet the standards or shut down.
These proposed regulations are particularly dangerous to low income women, who rely on abortion clinics that also double as women’s health centers for basic healthcare needs, said Justine Schnitzler, a sophomore studying international relations and women and gender studies and president of Pack for Choice, a pro-choice club on campus.
“It restricts women’s access to basic health care needs like pap smears,” Schnitzler said. “DHHS says they’re raising health care, but they’re really just trying to shut these clinics down.”
The proposed rewrite of regulations would increase supervision and accountability at abortion clinics. Each clinic would have a governing authority board that would meet at least once a year and assign positions to oversee designated operations of the clinic, according to the proposition.
Each clinic would also have a quality assurance board that would include at least one doctor to discuss records and protocols and to ensure procedures are still following regulation.
In case of complications, the new rules would require that each clinic attempt to set up a transfer agreement with a nearby hospital. If a clinic cannot arrange an agreement, the owner of the clinic would have to show proof of an attempt to be considered in compliance of the law.
“We would welcome oversight and regulations that protect patient safety, but there is absolutely no medical basis for the restrictions proposed by the General Assembly,” Suzanne Buckley, executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice North Carolina said in a press release.
Other features of the new regulations include improving post-operative care and creating a 24-hour hotline for complications.
“On paper, it’s a really good idea,” Schnitzler said. “But this same law has been repeated in dozens of states –a law that attempts to force abortion clinics to operate as outpatient facilities. Each and every time it passes, clinics are forced to bow under economic pressure.”
The proposal for tighter regulations come as a result of the “Women’s Right to Know Act,” a law that passed last year by the NC Legislature that made major changes to North Carolina’s abortion law. Previously, regulations in the abortion law had not been revised in nearly 20 years.
The proposed rules are in accordance with Senate Bill 353 by improving abortion patient’s safety and privacy, according to state Health Service Regulation director Drexdal Pratt in a press release.
The proposed regulations were developed with the assistance of medical experts, including a representative from the N.C. Board of Nursing, three OB/GYNs, two abortion provider representatives, a surgeon and two emergency department physicians and a representative from Planned Parenthood.
“The addition of broader range of professionals did lessen the proposed restrictions,” said Annie Wilt, a junior studying polymer and color chemistry and member of Pack for Choice. “Without them, I think they could have been a lot harsher.”
Governor Pat McCrory said these new regulations would still protect women’s access to abortion. Currently, DHHS is in the process of accepting public comments on the draft of proposed regulations until Jan. 30, 2015. A public hearing is scheduled for Dec. 19, and if the proposed regulations are approved by both DHHS and the Rules Review Commission, it would take effect April 1, 2015.
“It’s struggling to see how much the government seems to want to limit women’s health care without any real logic behind it,” Wilt said.
