Tennessee: Abortion Docs Must Have Hospital Admitting Privs

State   |   Steven Ertelt   |   Mar 29, 2012   |   12:54PM   |   Washington, DC

The Tennessee state House has approved legislation making it so abortion practitioners can’t abandon women after failed abortions by not having admitting privileges at a local hospital when botched abortions occur.

The House approved the bill 72-24 and the measure would require that abortion providers maintain admitting privileges at a local hospital in the county or adjoining county where the abortion is to be performed.  Additionally, women are to be informed by the abortion physician of the name and location of this hospital should complications develop following the abortion.

The bill, HB 3808, is sponsored by Rep. Matthew Hill.

Tennessee Right to Life is a strong supporter of the legislation and TRTL president Brian Harris says, “In Tennessee where courts have claimed that abortion facilities do not have to be licensed, inspected or regulated as other outpatient facilities, the health and safety of abortion-vulnerable women are at grave risk.”

“HB 3808 offers the most minimal standard of protection, safety and recourse for women seeking abortion at one of Tennessee’s unlicensed abortion facilities,” Harris said. “Please contact your state Representative immediately to urge their full support for pro-life HB 3808 by Rep. Matthew Hill.  Please don’t assume that your legislator will vote right simply because they call themselves ‘pro-life.’  They must hear from their constituents in order to confirm the importance of defending innocent human life in our communities, state and nation.”

C. Brent Boles, a Tennessee doctor, also supports the measure.

“Currently, abortion facilities in Tennessee frequently do not provide any resource for patients to receive help or have questions answered after hours or on weekends.  Patients are left to fend for themselves.  They present to emergency rooms all over the state and they call GYN offices where the providers are not abortion providers and have no experience providing abortion services and they need help,” he explained.

“Complications of any procedure are best managed by those providers with the most experience in the particular field…complications of abortion are best managed by abortion providers,” Boles said. “In order to have complete access to everything that a post-abortion patient would need, the provider who cares for these patients  must have access to the facilities in a hospital….They must have access to the resources needed, and sometimes these resources are available only in a hospital.”

“Abortion providers should have a clear process, communicated to the patient in a simple way, that outlines how the patient is to contact the provider after hours for problems, and where they are to go if they must go to the Emergency Room,” he concluded.