The Louisiana state legislature today put the finishing touches on HB 388, the Unsafe Abortion Protection Act, that the Planned Parenthood abortion business says could close three of the five abortion clinics in the state.
When the state of Texas clamped down on abortion clinics that could not follow basic health and safety standards and failed to ensure abortion practitioners had admitting privileges at local hospitals in cases where women are injured in botched abortions, abortion clinics closed down because they couldn’t comply. As many as 20 Texas abortion clinics have closed or stopping doing abortions.
Now, Louisiana is following suit.
The pro-life bill will protect women by ensuring that abortionists have admitting privileges at a local hospital, that informed consent protections apply to all abortions, and that facilities that perform more than five abortions maintain proper licensing.
During the debate, Representative Katrina Jackson (D-Monroe), reminded the committee that HB 388 is about the health and safety of women.
Planned Parenthood is complaining the bill will shut down abortion facilities that put women’s health at risk:
BREAKING: The Louisiana legislature just passed HB 388, which could close 3 of the 5 abortion providers in state. https://t.co/aiOcIgCmYG
— Planned Parenthood (@PPact) May 21, 2014
But pro-life Governor Bobby Jindal said he looks forward to signing the legislation:
Looking forward to signing HB 388 by @Repkjackson. This bill will give women the health and safety protections they deserve.
— Gov. Bobby Jindal (@BobbyJindal) May 21, 2014
Benjamin Clapper, Executive Director of Louisiana Right to Life, told LifeNews previously that the bill would protect women and children:
“Protecting women through common-sense regulations is something we all should stand behind. HB 388 will protect women from the Louisiana abortion industry, which is often more interested in selling abortion, than the health and safety of women. We commend Rep. Jackson for authoring the bill and Sen. Broome for moving this legislation through the Senate Floor,” he said.
Dr. Damon Cudihy, an OBGYN from Lafayette who has treated women who have suffered from abortion complications, said that abortion facilities shouldn’t have “special interest loopholes” that sanction a lower standard of care than what ambulatory surgical centers must have.
Why are laws requiring abortion practitioners to hold admitting privileges necessary? Consider Angela’s story.
Angela was twenty weeks pregnant when she walked into a dingy abortion clinic in Santa Ana, California, on August 7, 2004. Her abortion was completed in five minutes with little or no pain relief by an 84-year old abortionist, Phillip Rand, who rotated his time between several clinics throughout Southern California.
When he was done with Angela’s abortion, he got in his car and began the three-hour drive on congested California freeways to another abortion clinic in Chula Vista, near the Mexican border, where he had more patients waiting. But when Angela started bleeding heavily, the two medical aids, who were the only ones left in the clinic, didn’t know what to do. One called Rand and asked him to return to the clinic to help the hemorrhaging women, but Rand refused. He was already an hour or so away and didn’t want to go back and risk losing business in Chula Vista. He told them to call 911 if she got any worse.
Angela did get worse – much worse. By the time paramedics arrived, it was too late. They found her in a pool of her own blood. There was no oxygen or no crash cart at the clinic, but it is doubtful that the two minimally-trained aids would have know how to operate them if they had been available. Angela was transported to a local hospital where she later died.
One paramedic was so incensed by how he found Angela that he reported Rand to his supervisor who, in turn, notified the Medical Board. A signed declaration from the paramedic noted, “This was the worst post-partum patient situation at a medical clinic I have ever encountered during my time as a paramedic.” Twenty months later Rand surrendered his medical license.
For Angela, there was no continuity of care. Rand held no hospital privileges. This allowed him to operate well below the standard of care at the cost of one woman’s life.
