Latest news with #KentuckyPhysiciansforReproductiveFreedom
Yahoo
18-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Planned Parenthood urges Beshear to veto abortion-ban ‘clarification,' says it would increase risk
Doctors and medical students with Kentucky Physicians for Reproductive Freedom gather at the Kentucky Capitol to advocate for a full restoration of abortion access, March 12, 2025. (Kentucky Lantern photo by Sarah Ladd) Planned Parenthood is calling on Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear to veto last week's legislative changes to Kentucky's abortion ban. Contrary to Republican backers' claims, the amendment would do 'nothing to improve patient safety,' says a release from Planned Parenthood Alliance Advocates, 'and instead puts pregnant Kentuckians' lives at even greater risk.' The organization on Monday sent the Democratic governor a letter outlining its objections to House Bill 90. It was hastily amended last week to spell out when medical providers in Kentucky are permitted to end a pregnancy under the abortion ban's exemption for preventing serious physical harm or death. Sen. Julie Raque Adams, R-Louisville, who presented the bill to the state Senate, cited a 'desperate need for clarity' as the reason for the amendment. Republican lawmakers attached the abortion amendment to a bill that was originally meant to clear the way for freestanding birth centers in Kentucky. The surprise action came in the final three days before the General Assembly recessed for the 10-day veto-period. Tamarra Wieder, Kentucky state director for Planned Parenthood Alliance Advocates, said the measure 'will put Kentuckians' lives in danger by forcing pregnant patients to suffer through medical crises before they can receive care.' Planned Parenthood also complains that the Republican-controlled legislature passed the measure with 'virtually no input from the public.' The bill specifies that medical providers can intervene to provide 'lifesaving miscarriage management,' remove molar and ectopic pregnancies, treat sepsis and hemorrhage and more. It also leaves the determination of an emergency to 'the physician's reasonable medical judgment.' Anti-abortion activist Addia Wuchner, executive director of Kentucky Right to Life, told a House committee that the measure clarifies 'what is not an abortion.' Opponents say the bill's language is misleading. Sen. Karen Berg, a physician, cited 'misspeak' when voting against the measure in committee last week. 'When you say that 'we're talking about abortions that aren't abortions' — they are abortions,' said Berg, D-Louisville. 'The definition of an abortion is the termination of a pregnancy prior to viability. You can talk about spontaneous abortions, you can talk about elective abortions, you can talk about emergent abortions. They're still all abortions.' Planned Parenthood's statement also focuses on what it describes as misleading language. 'By codifying anti-abortion rhetoric such as so-called 'maternal-fetal separation' and redefining critical, lifesaving procedures as something other than abortion, HB 90 ignores evidence-based medical standards and forces doctors to ignore their years of training,' the organization said. Pointing to the bill's redefinition of abortion, Planned Parenthood cites the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology Guide to Language and Abortion. The guide says the term 'maternal-fetal separation' is used by abortion opponents 'to justify or to mandate performing medical procedures that carry more risk for the patient, such as cesarean deliveries or inductions of labor, rather than abortion.' Dr. Virginia Stokes, an OB-GYN who has protested the state's abortion laws with Kentucky Physicians for Reproductive Freedom, said in a statement after HB 90 passed that the clarification 'creates more restrictions now, and could still result in delayed care for patients.' 'In addition to being callous, this bill is not in line with appropriate standards of care for miscarriage management,' Stokes said. 'It does not allow for treatment decisions until the woman's life is already in danger.' Providers have long criticized the ban on those grounds. Dr. Jeffrey M. Goldberg, the legislative advocacy chair for the Kentucky chapter of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, who worked on the new language, called it 'an acceptable short term solution for dealing with a really serious problem that's in front of us.' 'We already work within statutory restrictions that are, from a medical perspective, very ambiguous,' Goldberg previously said. 'There's a great deal of work to be done. This is not perfect. I don't want to give anybody the illusion that we all think this is great.' The Republican amendment comes as reports have surfaced across the country, including in Kentucky, of women who say they were denied access to medication to treat miscarriages and other complications because of state abortion bans, leading in some cases to preventable deaths. Kentucky OB-GYNs have said the state's abortion ban is forcing them to violate their oath as physicians and causing 'devastating consequences' for patients. On Kentucky's political right the amendment is being applauded. Richard Nelson, the executive director of the conservative Commonwealth Policy Center, said the final version of HB 90, calling it 'clearly pro-woman and pro-child as it acknowledges the unborn as a 'child' and asserts that 'the right to life is the most fundamental human right, forming the basis for all other rights.'' Kentucky legislature approves late-breaking 'clarification' of state abortion law 'The bill legalizes free-standing birthing centers and brings much-needed clarity to health professionals who were previously uncertain about what constitutes an abortion under Kentucky law,' he said. Beshear's office did not respond to a Tuesday inquiry about his plans for the bill. Speaking last week about the abortion portion of HB 90, Beshear said: 'One question I'm going to have is: Is it more or less restrictive than the current understanding in the medical community that we have right now?' If he vetoes it, the Republican supermajority can easily override him when lawmakers return to Frankfort on March 27-28 to wrap up the session. Mary Kathryn DeLodder, the director of the Kentucky Birth Coalition, said the abortion additions were not something her organization worked on. The Kentucky Birth Coalition worked for years to make freestanding birth centers a reality in the state. 'We are very happy that the bill is passed,' DeLodder said. 'It's interesting to see the discussion not be about birth centers anymore. The conversation has changed, because the bill has changed, and in one way, it's nice that nobody's arguing about birth centers anymore.' HB 90 still would lift the certificate of need requirement for freestanding birth centers, thus removing a process some have criticized as a 'competitor's veto.' Freestanding birth centers are health care facilities that are meant to feel like a home. They do not offer c-sections or anesthesia. They are for low-risk pregnancies, and not every pregnancy will qualify for such a birth. CON attempts to certify that there is a need for a service, be that extra beds in a hospital, an extra MRI machine or a new facility altogether, like a freestanding birthing center. CON laws are meant to control health care costs by limiting duplicate services, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL). Without CON, hypothetically, a community could have many duplicates of the same service. That could force a facility — such as a hospital — to raise prices to compensate for underutilized services brought on by that competition. Anticipating the end of the certificate of need requirement, several people have already expressed interest in opening a birth center, DeLodder said. She still has concerns about the portion of the bill that requires a medical doctor to oversee the centers. 'There are some physicians who we know are supportive of birth centers, but how many of them are there out there, and how many of them will be willing to become a medical director is yet to be seen,' she said. 'And as people work to develop those relationships in different areas of the state where they wish to open birth centers … I think time will be the only thing that will tell whether that's going to end up being a challenge or not.' SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
12-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
GOP lawmakers seek to clarify KY abortion ban decried as ‘cruel, medically dangerous'
Doctors and medical students with Kentucky Physicians for Reproductive Freedom gather at the Kentucky Capitol to advocate for a full restoration of abortion access, March 12, 2025. (Kentucky Lantern photo by Sarah Ladd) FRANKFORT — With four days left in the 2025 legislative session, House Republicans moved to clarify Kentucky's abortion law and reassure health care providers that they are free to treat complex pregnancies. House Bill 414 originally required insurance coverage for and referrals to perinatal palliative care programs in cases when newborn babies are unlikely to live long. It was amended to add clarifying language on Kentucky's near-total abortion ban. In its current form, which passed out of the House Health Services Committee Wednesday along party lines, the bill states that 'there is a need to clarify the distinction between an elective abortion and illegal termination of the life of an unborn child protected under Kentucky law and medically necessary interventions that affirm the fundamental right to life.' Democrats voted against the bill, arguing it didn't go far enough and further 'muddies the waters' for medical providers. 'If I thought this was the fix, even though it doesn't go as far as I would like it to go … I would so happily vote for it,' said Rep. Lisa Willner, D-Louisville. 'I'm not convinced. Having not heard from hospital attorneys, I'm not convinced that this protects doctors, and I'm sure that it does not protect pregnant people.' The proposed clarification comes in response to reports from across the country, including in Kentucky, of women who say they were denied access to medication to treat miscarriages and other complications because of state abortion bans, leading in some cases to preventable deaths. Kentucky OB-GYNs have said the state's abortion ban is forcing them to violate their oath as physicians and causing 'devastating consequences' for patients. Also on Wednesday, doctors and medical students with Kentucky Physicians for Reproductive Freedom came to Frankfort to advocate for a full restoration of abortion access. They brought with them a letter signed by more than 400 health care providers asking the legislature to repeal its ban on abortion. Dr. Nicole King told her fellow physicians gathered in the Capitol annex that they are 'stuck between doing what is right and doing what is legal.' A military veteran and anesthesiologist with high-risk obstetrical experience, King said Kentucky's law is 'not just cruel, it is medically dangerous.' 'Delayed care increases the risk of severe blood loss, uterine infection, multi organ failure and death,' King said. 'We must continue to fight, not just for the patients who are able to speak out, but for the countless others suffering in silence, trapped by unjust laws.' In the committee, Majority Whip Jason Nemes, R-Middletown, said the proposed reassurances for medical providers in HB 414 'will save lives' and acknowledged the bill is a compromise for many. 'I know that some people want elective abortions,' said Nemes, who in 2023 attempted to add exceptions for rape and incest to the ban. But he said restoring abortion rights is not politically feasible in the Kentucky legislature. 'There's a baby involved, and that's not going to pass this General Assembly.' Dr. Jeffrey M. Goldberg, the legislative advocacy chair for the Kentucky chapter of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), testified in support of the new version of HB 414 over Zoom. While he reiterated the language in HB 414 isn't perfect, 'current statute has a tremendous amount of ambiguity' and needs updating, he said. 'We're all in agreement that the current situation for caring for women in the commonwealth who have complications of pregnancy is in a terrible state,' he said. 'While it may not have been the intention of the legislature — when writing laws either restricting elective abortion when it was still legal or subsequently making it against the law — to make it difficult to properly care for women who have pregnancy complications that have nothing to do with elective abortion, nonetheless, that has been the outcome.' Sponsor Rep. Nancy Tate, R-Brandenburg, said the latest version 'gives us the opportunity to provide additional care for women and their families in the event that they have a pregnancy that turns out to be not exactly perfect.' Addressing several Democratic lawmakers who questioned the language in the bill, Goldberg said, 'We already work within statutory restrictions that are, from a medical perspective, very ambiguous.' 'There's a great deal of work to be done. This is not perfect. I don't want to give anybody the illusion that we all think this is great,' he said. 'We think it's an acceptable short term solution for dealing with a really serious problem that's in front of us.' There isn't much time for it to pass. Wednesday marked the 26th day of the 30-day session. Lawmakers break Friday for a veto period, then return on March 27-28 to override vetos. In order to be veto-proof, the bill would need to clear the House, a Senate committee and the full Senate in two days' time. Tate's HB 414, as amended in committee, proposes striking several phrases from abortion law. For example, it would replace the 'no abortion shall be performed' with'no action that requires separating a pregnant woman from her unborn child shall be performed, except the following when performed by a physician based upon his or her reasonable medical judgment.' Those exceptions are laid out to include: Lifesaving miscarriage management, which includes medically necessary interventions when the pregnancy has ended or is in the unavoidable and untreatable process of ending due to spontaneous or incomplete miscarriage. Sepsis and hemorrhage emergency medical interventions required when a miscarriage or impending miscarriage results in a life-threatening infection or excessive bleeding. The removal of a molar pregnancy. The removal of an ectopic pregnancy or a pregnancy that is not implanted normally within the endometrial cavity. And more. The bill still directs medical professionals to 'make reasonable medical efforts under the circumstances to preserve both the life of the mother and the life of the unborn child.' Addia Wuchner, the executive director of Kentucky Right to Life, said that 'although we've always said that current model does not restrict medical care for miscarriage management, ectopic pregnancy, molar pregnancy, sepsis (and) hemorrhage,' the bill is to address confusion around these conditions. Committee chair Kim Moser, R-Taylor Mill, agreed. 'This is a step in the right direction for medical clarity,' she said. After the committee's discussion of Tate's bill, 19 members of Kentucky Physicians for Reproductive Freedom gathered in the Capitol Annex and lamented the state's 'extreme' stance on abortion. Among them was Dr. Janet Wygal, a Kentucky OB-GYN. 'No physician should be forced to wait until a woman becomes seriously ill to intervene with basic necessary health care because the government says so,' Wygal said. 'These laws create an environment of fear and uncertainty, not only for doctors and their patients seeking abortion care, but also for those needing the full spectrum of health care, including IVF, contraception and cancer screenings.' In 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision that established abortion as a constitutional right, allowing an abortion ban to immediately take effect in Kentucky. It includes exceptions only for rare and life-threatening situations. Lawmakers of both parties and organizations have attempted to loosen or undo Kentucky's abortion bans, to no avail. In 2022, Kentucky voters defeated the anti-abortion Amendment 2, which would have specified there's no right to an abortion in Kentucky's Constitution. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
