National Abortion Federation Blog: Saporta Reporter
| News about reproductive choice from the President and CEO of the National Abortion Federation, Vicki Saporta. |
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Temporary Injunction Delays Oklahoma Ultrasound Law
A temporary injunction, issued October 29, has prevented Oklahoma ultrasound legislation from taking effect this month. In April, the Oklahoma legislature passed the country’s most restrictive ultrasound law, which requires women to undergo an ultrasound one hour prior to obtaining abortion care and listen to an explanation from the medical professional performing the ultrasound while the image is displayed where she can see it. The injunction was filed by Nova Health Systems, the parent group of NAF member Reproductive Services of Tulsa, on grounds that the law violates a woman’s right to privacy by forcing her to listen to unwelcome, government dictated language in a private setting. Ultrasound legislation is manipulative to women and violates the doctor-patient relationship. This year, 18 states introduced ultrasound legislation with bills passing in one or both chambers in Florida, Kansas, Kentucky, Missouri, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, and Virginia. >Learn more about abortion rights in the states.Labels: Kansas, South Dakota, state legislation, ultrasound laws
Kansas Grand Jury Declines to Indict Tiller
After a six-month investigation, a Kansas Grand Jury adjourned on Wednesday without issuing a criminal indictment against NAF member Dr. George Tiller. In a statement released by the Sedgwick County district attorney’s office, the grand jury said: “After six months of conducting an investigation that included hearing extensive witness testimony, reviewing volumes of documents and medical records of patients of Women’s Health Care Services (Tiller’s Wichita clinic), this grand jury has not found sufficient evidence to bring an indictment on any crime related to the abortion laws.” Kansas is one of six states that permit citizen-petitioned grand juries. Throughout his career, Tiller has consistently been targeted by anti-abortion extremists. His clinic has been vandalized, his staff and patients have been repeatedly harassed, and in 1993 Tiller was shot and injured by an anti-abortion extremist.Labels: Kansas
Restrictive Bills Fail in Florida, Kansas
Although access to abortion care continues to be threatened in the states, this week, we celebrated the following defeats of new proposed restrictive legislation: The Florida Senate failed to pass a bill, which would have required a woman seeking abortion care to have an ultrasound and view the results unless she signed a waiver. After 90 minutes of debate, the bill died on a 20-20 tie. This legislation was medically unnecessary, and an unwarranted intrusion into the relationship between a doctor and patient. Anti-choice senators in Kansas failed to override the governor's veto of a bill imposing new restrictions on abortion care. Last week, Governor Kathleen Sebelius (D-KS) noted in her veto message that the bill, "endangers the health of women and is likely to be found in violation [of] the United States Constitution and the Constitution of the State of Kansas." >Learn more about abortion rights in the states.Labels: access, anti-choice, Kansas, ultrasound laws
NAF Commends the Governor of Kansas for Her Veto of Legislation Restricting Abortion
Today, Governor Kathleen Sebelius (D-KS) vetoed a bill (Senate Bill 389) imposing new restrictions on abortion care. Gov. Sebelius noted in her veto message that the bill, “endangers the health of women and is likely to be found in violation [of] the United States Constitution and the Constitution of the State of Kansas.” Vicki Saporta, President and CEO of the National Abortion Federation (NAF), released the following statement praising Gov. Sebelius for vetoing this harmful anti-abortion legislation:
We thank Gov. Sebelius for recognizing that this bill inappropriately legislates the way in which doctors care for their patients and improperly interferes with personal, private medical decisions.
NAF is the professional association of abortion providers in the U.S. and Canada. Our members work diligently to ensure that every woman seeking reproductive health care receives the highest quality care and accurate and complete information pertinent to her health care. Physicians have a legal, professional, and ethical obligation to share with their patients relevant information about available health care options and to respect their patients’ decisions. Quality medical practice requires that a patient and her physician decide together on medical treatment based on the specific needs of that patient. If this bill had been signed into law, it would have interfered with this crucial doctor-patient relationship and endangered the health of women in Kansas.
Labels: Kansas
Grand Jury Refuses to Indict Kansas Clinic
Yesterday, a grand jury refused to issue an indictment against a Kansas Planned Parenthood clinic concerning allegations of parental notice and informed consent violations. "We are once again vindicated, as we have been any time there is an objective review of these allegations," said Peter Brownlie, president and chief executive officer of Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri. "The jury investigated all of the allegations that were in the petition that resulted in the grand jury being formed, and they found no evidence of any wrongdoing." Normally, a prosecutor would decide when to convene a grand jury, but Kansas is one of just six states that allow citizen-petitioned grand juries. Abortion opponents in Kansas have recently used this law to impanel grand juries against two abortion providers in their state. Labels: Kansas, parental involvement
Court Dismisses Kansas "Kiss and Tell" Case
This week, the Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit dismissed the government’s appeals in the case concerning the Kansas "kiss and tell" policy. The policy would have required health care providers and counselors to report all sexual activity by teenagers under 16, including kissing between two teens, to state authorities as evidence of child abuse. A group of health care and counseling professionals represented by the Center for Reproductive Rights filed the case challenging the policy and succeeded in permanently blocking it in 2006. The case, Aid for Women v. Foulston, was dismissed this week because the Kansas state legislature recently revised the state’s child abuse reporting law in a way that makes clear that the law does not require blanket reporting of all adolescent sexual contact. Labels: Kansas, state legislation
Temporary Injunction Granted in Missouri Case
This week a federal judge granted a request from Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri to temporarily block enforcement of a new Missouri law, which would impose additional regulations on abortion clinics. While Missouri already requires abortion clinics to be licensed, the new legislation would require any facility that performs more than five first-trimester abortions a month, or any second- or third-trimester abortions, to meet the licensure requirements for an “ambulatory surgical center.” The new law would force clinics to make expensive and “ medically unnecessary” renovations. These changes are particularly unnecessary for the clinic in Kansas City, which only provides medical abortion care. U.S. District Judge Ortrie Smith said it was “confusing how the state would apply the law to the Kansas City clinic,” and said, “of all the establishments that dispense medication (e.g. doctor’s offices, pharmacies), why is it only those that dispense medication for the purpose of inducing an abortion that must be prepared to perform surgery?” A hearing is set for September 10 to determine whether this injunction will be permanent. Labels: Kansas
Clinic Files Federal Lawsuit over Missouri Law
Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri has filed a federal lawsuit claiming a new Missouri law infringes on a constitutional right to abortion. They say the law could eliminate abortion services in large parts of the state by subjecting clinics to special regulations. The new law would require any facility that performs more than five first-trimester abortions a month, or any second- or third-trimester abortions, to meet the licensure requirements for an “ambulatory surgical center.” According to Planned Parenthood CEO Peter Brownlie, “This onerous legislation has nothing to do with protecting women's health and safety…and is a blatant attempt to close down clinics and deny women their right to health care.” This type of legislation is an example of a Targeted Regulation of Abortion Provider (TRAP) bill. These bills subject abortion clinics to stringent regulations, which are inappropriate and unnecessary for outpatient facilities. TRAP bills are often introduced by abortion opponents who claim that abortion is an unsafe and unregulated procedure. In fact, abortion is one of the safest medical procedures provided in the United States and Canada. By implying that abortion clinics are uniquely dangerous and in need of special regulation, such bills recklessly promote an unfounded fear of abortion and their passage can result in clinics being closed to women seeking reproductive health care. This is clearly the case in Missouri where Sen. Delbert Scott, a lead sponsor of the legislation, acknowledged: “Certainly, abortion is our target here.” >Learn more about TRAP laws.Labels: access, Kansas, TRAP bills
Kansas Governor Vetoes Proposal to Toughen Abortion Reporting Requirements
Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius vetoed legislation Monday calling for tougher reporting requirements for abortion providers. The proposal would have required doctors to report to the state specific reasons why they provided abortions to women with viable fetuses. Under current Kansas law, abortion of a viable fetus is legal after the 21st week of pregnancy to save a woman's life or to prevent "substantial and irreversible harm" to "a major bodily function." Doctors report each procedure, whether the fetus was viable, and whether the abortion preserved a woman's life or her health. Physicians must state generally how they made those assessments. "This measure runs counter to Kansans' strong belief in the importance of medical privacy," Sebelius said in her veto message. She said the requirements would open private medical records up for public viewing and would not collect sound data. Sebelius also vetoed another abortion-reporting bill last year. Labels: Kansas
Kansas Supreme Court Dismisses Charges Against Abortion Provider
The Kansas Supreme Court has granted a request by Attorney General Paul Morrison to dismiss charges against NAF member Dr. George Tiller. The charges against Dr. Tiller were filed by former Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline following two years of court battles over confidential medical records. Kline was defeated in last year’s midterm elections and filed the charges during his final days in office.
A District judge dismissed the charges in December, and District Attorney Nola Foulston conducted an investigation that found Dr. Tiller had not violated any laws.Labels: Kansas
NAF Releases Report on Crisis Pregnancy Centers
NAF released a comprehensive report today detailing the many ways Crisis Pregnancy Centers (CPCs) have deceived and intimidated women. The report, entitled Crisis Pregnancy Centers: An Affront to Choice, highlights numerous instances where CPCs have harassed and given false information to women who have come through their doors, leaving them feeling betrayed and misled. The report also discusses legal action taken against CPCs, their current sources of funding, and what concerned citizens can do to combat their harmful tactics. You can read the full report here. On Tuesday, an Ohio State House committee heard testimony on a bill that would ban abortion in all circumstances, including when a woman’s life is threatened. At a rally protesting the bill, a woman told her story of having an unsafe, illegal abortion in the days before Roe v. Wade. The Kansas City Star reports on a trend in state legislatures to consider “trigger laws,” which would ban abortion in their states if Roe v. Wade were overturned. Washington State Governor Christine Gregoire is challenging a rule that would allow pharmacists to refuse to dispense prescriptions on religious grounds, including emergency contraception and birth control. Labels: abortion bans, Contraception, crisis pregnancy center (CPC), Kansas, Roe v. Wade
New Developments in Pharmacist Refusals
A pharmacist in Seattle refused to fill a prescription for antibiotics because it was called in by Cedar River Clinic, a local abortion provider. Read Seattle Times columnist Nicole Broder’s take on this disturbing development in pharmacy refusals. Kansas state attorney general Phill Kline has spent several years attempting to procure confidential patient records from two comprehensive reproductive health care clinics. A debate has started in the state over whether the court proceedings should be open to the public. Read the Kansas City Star article. The South Dakota-based Argus Leader reports that pro-choice activists have gathered approximately 10,000 of the 17,000 petition signatures they need to place the abortion ban on the November ballot. Labels: abortion bans, ballot initiatives, Kansas
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