Abortion clinics not being held to same standard as other medical providers
The development of state agency rules is often a mundane, unnoticed process. But that won’t be the case Aug. 16 when the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services will hold a public hearing on proposed rules pertaining to the licensure of abortion centers. The draft rules are commonsense requirements designed to keep women safe and ensure quality of care. These requirements are no different than those imposed on similar healthcare facilities.
I base my opinions on being a board-certified OB/GYN with over 30 years of experience both in private and group practice. I am familiar with the requirements and risks involved in performing abortions because I used to perform first and second-trimester abortions. I understand what is necessary to operate a safe, sanitary, well-run center because I chaired the quality assurance committee for a large OB/GYN practice, and for years chaired the governing board for an ambulatory surgery center and was a member of their medical board.
In the past, many abortion centers were not subject to the same regulations as medical facilities because state officials feared being sued for creating an impediment to so-called “abortion access.” This resulted in abortion centers not being held to the same standard as other medical providers or even businesses like hair and nail salons.
Without annual inspections or oversight, gross abuses occur. Pennsylvania abortionist Kermit Gosnell’s facility went uninspected for 17 years where he maimed low-income, minority women; killed babies who were born alive; and was responsible for the death of at least one woman – a refugee from Nepal.
Anyone involved in the administration side of a medical practice knows that the proposed regulations are standard. Montana’s Department of Public Health and Human Services states in the proposed rules that most of these regulations are based on current requirements for outpatient centers for surgical services, and “some are derived from the regulatory requirements and minimum standards imposed on all health care facilities.”
Many states, including Missouri and Florida, have had reasonable regulations for years, and for good reason. In 2018, following at least a half-decade of health code violations, Planned Parenthood’s facility in Columbia, Missouri, was finally shut down after staff admitted to having used moldy equipment on women for months. In Pensacola, Florida, an abortion business was shut down after sending multiple women to the hospital in 2022.
The Montana abortion industry is particularly upset at the idea of having to involve doctors; however, this part of the rule is especially crucial for Montana, which allows nurse practitioners and physician assistants to perform abortions. It is essential that a physician has oversight to minimize the dangers posed to women and to step in when a woman experiences a serious or life-threatening complication.
Of course, the abortion industry won’t have to worry about abiding by any regulations – even these straightforward regulations proposed by the Department of Public Health and Human Services – if Montana’s proposed abortion amendment makes the ballot and passes in November. Under that amendment, abortion “shall not be denied or burdened.” Regardless of where people stand on abortion, Montanans need to be aware of the abortion lobby’s pursuit to avoid all health and safety requirements in November and in this upcoming hearing.
Pro-life or pro-choice, no one who cares about patient safety and the provision of quality care should object to these proposed rules. These health and safety regulations do not stop abortions from happening any more than similar regulations stop medical facilities from providing care. Abortion centers should not be exempt from the regulations imposed on similar medical facilities that are designed to protect patients. The abortion industry is not acting in the best interest of women by opposing straightforward regulations like annual inspections, having lit exit pathways, and making sure a facility director is in good standing. In their attempts to go completely unregulated, abortion businesses put profit ahead of women’s safety.
Dr. Kathi Aultman is a retired board-certified OB-GYN and associate scholar of the Charlotte Lozier Institute, a nonprofit of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America.