Alabama Legislature Launches All Out Attack on Reproductive Health
March 31, 2013
Today, The Birmingham News, posted my letter to the editor on a medically unnecessary and politically motivated TRAP bill introduced in the Alabama legislature.
The Alabama legislature is launching an all out attack on the reproductive health care of women and their families in the state.
We know from other states like Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Mississippi that obtaining admitting privileges and/or new licenses to comply with regulations targeting only abortion providers is often a very political process. Admitting privileges requirements could force facilities in Alabama to close if their current physicians are unable to obtain these privileges from hospitals for strictly politically-motivated reasons.
The medically unnecessary structural requirements are also problematic because many of the clinics in the state do not have the means to undertake extensive renovations. These renovations are medically unnecessary and there is no evidence that they would do anything to improve patient safety.
Abortion is one of the safest and most commonly provided medical procedures in the United States. HB 57/SB 130 is not about ensuring that abortion care is safe. They are about ensuring that abortion care is unavailable in Alabama.