government
Narrow ruling a reprieve for state’s only abortion facility
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted July 30, 2012
A Mississippi state law requiring that a physician providing abortions be a board-certified obstetrician-gynecologist with admitting privileges at a local hospital will move forward, but with restrictions, a Mississippi judge has ruled. In a July 11 opinion, U.S. District Judge Daniel P. Jordan III said the law can take effect but that doctors cannot be subject to criminal or civil penalties for operating without privileges during the administrative process to obtain them.
The decision means Jackson Women’s Health Organization — the only facility providing abortions in the state — can continue to operate while its physicians seek to acquire hospital privileges.
The state law was scheduled to go into effect July 1 but was blocked by the court. The Center for Reproductive Rights, representing the Jackson Women’s Health Organization, had requested an injunction against the law June 27, calling the statute “medically unjustified.” Although doctors employed at the Mississippi clinic are board-certified ob-gyns, the physicians responsible for the majority of the clinic’s patients have been unable to secure privileges at a local hospital, the center said. Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant has said the state plans to defend the law vigorously, which he said addresses “both the heart of women’s health care and protecting the lives of unborn children.”
In a statement, the Center for Reproductive Rights said it would work with the clinic to ensure it isn’t subject to penalties that would force it to close.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2012/07/30/gvbf0730.htm.
