A New Mexico Planned Parenthood is being accused this week of breaking the law by allowing a nurse to prescribe chemical abortion drugs to patients.
The pro-life group Protest ABQ said it filed a formal complaint with the New Mexico Nursing Board this week, alleging nurse practitioner Vivianne Clark performed more than 200 illegal abortions at a Planned Parenthood in the state since 2012.
“New Mexico law states that only licensed physicians can perform abortions,” the group said in a press release. “Vivianne Clark is not a licensed physician and is therefore in violation of New Mexico’s Criminal Abortion Statute, NMSA Section 30-5-1, et. sequ. Medicaid data obtained by Protest ABQ through a public records request indicates that since 2012 New Mexico taxpayers have footed the bill for over 200 illegal abortions performed by Vivianne Clark.”
The group cited state documents showing Clark did more than 90 abortions and received more than $11,000 in Medicaid reimbursements in 2013 alone.
The state nursing board is investigating the case, the Associated Press reports.
Planned Parenthood contends that it is not breaking the law by allowing Clark to do chemical abortions, and called the case another “baseless attack.” Spokeswoman Whitney Phillips referenced a 2007 lawsuit ruling that said nurse practitioners can prescribe chemical abortion drugs to patients.
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Angelo Artuso, an attorney for the pro-life group, responded that a district court order is not legal precedent, according to the AP.
Bud Shaver, executive director of Protest ABQ, issued the following statement: “It is a disturbing fact that New Mexicans are funding an illegal abortionist through NM medicaid. The over 200 abortions that we have been able to document, based on the NM medicaid data, are only the tip of the iceberg as far as the total number of abortions Vivanne Clarke has performed over the years in clear violation of New Mexico law. We are calling upon the New Mexico Nursing Board to do a thorough investigation to get to the bottom of this. Based on what we can already prove, Vivianne Clarke’s nursing license should be revoked immediately.”
In the past few years, abortion activists have been pushing to allow nurses to do abortions as abortionists retire and abortion facilities seek out new ways to increase their profit margins.
In 2013, California passed an unpopular measure allowing nurse practitioners, midwives and physicians assistants to do certain surgical abortion procedures, LifeNews reported. A poll at the time showed 65 percent of Californians opposed allowing nurse practitioners and physicians assistants to do abortions. An even greater margin, 78 percent, opposed allowing nurse midwives to do abortions.
