Posted on 07/16/2013 5:26:02 AM PDT by Morgana
Now that the state of Texas has approved the bill to ban-late term abortions, pro-abortion stalwarts are still complaining that as many as 35 abortions clinics may be forced to close.
The 20-week abortion ban was the major focus of the bill, but the legislation also places stricter health and safety regulations on abortion clinics — which has formced many abortion clinics in other states that can’t guarantee they can protect the health of women to close.
The bill would ban abortions after 20 weeks and hold abortion clinics accountable by making them meet basic health and safety standards that have closed facilities in other states that are unable to comply. The bill also requires all abortion clinics to meet the same health and safety regulations as an ambulatory surgical center, requires a doctor providing abortions to secure admitting privileges at a nearby hospital, and lastly, requires a doctor to personally administer the abortion-inducing drugs to the patient.
From a story on the potential closings:
Now, more than 40 years later, new abortion restrictions passed by the Texas Legislature could force Novick to close the Houston abortion clinic he opened in 1980 because, he says, he does not have $1 million to $1.5 million to convert his run-of-the-mill medical office into a fully loaded surgical center with wide corridors and sophisticated air-flow systems.
“I have saved some women’s lives. They are so grateful we’re here for them and nonjudgmental,” Novick said. “I really feel a kinship for this.”
The legislation, passed late Friday following weeks of mass protests and a high-profile filibuster, allows abortions only in surgical centers, requires doctors who perform them to have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals, dictates when abortion pills are taken and bans abortions after 20 weeks unless the woman’s life is in imminent danger.
Abortion-rights advocates argue the costs associated with converting clinics into surgical centers are so high they will force more than 35 clinics to close, possibly leaving only a handful of facilities across the vast state. In rural areas such as the farthest reaches of West Texas or the Rio Grande Valley, that could put the closest facility 300 or more miles away.
The law could also create a backlog so great in the remaining clinics that women seeking abortions will miss the 20-week deadline, said Amy Hagstrom Miller, president and CEO of Whole Woman’s Health, a company that runs five clinics in Texas.
Abortion opponents insist, however, that the new rules are designed to guarantee the best health care.
“All we’re asking for is better surgical care for women seeking these procedures,” said Christine Melchor, executive director of the Houston Coalition for Life.
Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst posted on Twitter a link to a map of facilities that would be affected and implied that any shutdowns would be an added benefit. The timeline for closures isn’t immediately clear; opponents have vowed to sue to block the regulations from going into effect.
Abortion activists are so concerned about abortion businesses closing that they are looking at a lawsuit against the pro-life law, once Governor Rick Perry signs it into law.
Abortion rights supporters say that the new law attempts to overturn Roe vs. Wade in Texas, and that’s why they plan to take their fight to the courts.
“What this does is completely reshape the abortion landscape in the state,” says Elizabeth Nash, who follows state issues at the Guttmacher Institute, an abortion rights research group. “With this legislation, Texas will become one of the most restrictive states in the country. And Texas really matters.”
“This law can absolutely be stopped. It is a cocktail of restrictions that have been blocked by other courts around the country,” Rikelman says. “It’s clearly unconstitutional and I do believe that courts will find it to be unconstitutional if it’s challenged.”
But none of those cases was in the U.S. Court of Appeals in Texas, points out Joe Pojman, executive director of Texas Alliance of Life, which has backed the anti-abortion bill from the beginning.
“Their optimism may be poorly founded in the 5th Circuit,” Pojman says. “In Texas, we have had a very good track record of our abortion regulations and limits being reviewed and upheld by the 5th Circuit. I point out to you most recently our statute passed two years ago.”
Any late term abortion clinic closing is good news.
Praise God.
No, not 35 late-term clinics (thankfully). The law prohibited abortions after 20 weeks, but it also instituted other regulations for all abortion clinics, late-term or not. The 35 clinics will supposedly close because of the other regulations.
We should start bills in all 50 states prohibiting abortionists from using wire hangers.
The infanticide squad wouldn’t know what to do.
wow, the new standards of care seem minimal for such a serious surgery as removing and killing a viable baby
what pro-death protester could possibly want women going into an abortion mill that didn’t meet minimal medical standards such as the doctor administering the lethal drugs and having admission privileges to nearest hospital?
veterinary clinics have higher standards
They will just do it in secret. You’ll never 100% stop it. Like wanting criminals to get background checks.
300 miles? I live in Texas, and the state is big but not THAT big that there are no hospitals within 300 miles. Big Bend is remote, but is not that far from good hospitals in Alpine, even El Paso. The far west end of the Rio Grande Valley is not that far from McAllen (I know, I go there on business a lot). There are good hospitals and medical clinics of all kinds in Rio Grande City.
I’d like to see them all closed but in fact its just making them meet certain standards I believe. if they close it’s their choosing.
Info for the thread;
How many abortion clinics are in Texas? There are 36:
7 in Houston plus an eighth in the suburb of Stafford
7 in San Antonio
4 in Dallas
3 in Austin
2 in Fort Worth
2 in El Paso
1 each in Beaumont, Bryan, Corpus Christi, Harlingen, Killeen, Lubbock, McAllen, Midland, San Angelo and Waco
from:
http://www.dallasnews.com/news/20130703-abortion-in-texas-facts-figures-questions-and-answers.ece
I think you missed my point. The agents of infanticide are very predictable on two reactions:
1. Oppose every restriction no matter how minor on infanticide.
2. Scream that said restrictions will force women into having abortions performed with wire hangers.
My proposal would put them in the dilema of giving up on #1 or pushing to protect #2.
Brilliant LOL
The hospital in Alpine is good for basic needs and easy child delivery. We live there and actually had to go all the way to Odessa for some tests and a higher level of care.
Thank you, Governor Perry.
Pray for abortion to be done away with. Pray every day. We won't win the battle in one day, but every bit counts.
drama queens again, the left whether homosexual marriage, drug use, legal all drugs or get rid of Govt for their agenda then they all become drama queens and repeat the same boring slogans .
Seriously? This guy supposedly went to medical school and somehow failed to learn that abortion is risky for women's short and long term health? He didn't learn that the damage to the reproductive system causes a higher fail rate of subsequent pregnancies, which also endangers women's health? And this guy wants us to believe that he is capable of even caring about women's health, when he kills babies so easily? Excuse me, but psychopaths have no concern about anyone. If there was profit in it and he could avoid jail, he'd kill those women just as easily as their babies.
300 miles? Wow, that would take all of five or six
hours! It’s not like they had to walk or ride a horse.
People drive that far for a decent pizza.
Go Texas!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.