Arizona Senate Rejects Bill Preventing Nurses from Providing Abortion Care

Yesterday, the Arizona Senate defeated a House-passed bill preventing advanced practice nurses from providing abortion care. This bill would have contradicted last month’s decision by the Arizona Board of Nursing that it is within the scope of practice of appropriately trained advanced practice nurses in the state to provide early aspiration abortion care.

A nurse’s scope of practice is determined by the state Board of Nursing based upon specified guidelines established in the Nurse Practice Act for that state. Professional boards are charged with making these types of scope of practice decisions due to their extensive knowledge of the profession, and their judgments should be respected.

>Learn more about the role of advanced practice clinicians in abortion care.