I am a board certified OB/GYN physician specializing and also board certified in Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility. I do not do terminations. During my training at the end of the 1970’s I had to attend to those patients, who had sought illegal procedures elsewhere, when they came to the hospital with complications. The devastating consequences of infections, pain, and at times surgery was unbelievable. Why would we return to such a system? Why should we change the present situation?

1)      The new law has the potential of limiting the available and safe facilities now operating in the state.

2)      Why is the government regulating only these clinics. What about the other clinics or offices that perform procedures such as plastic surgery, dentistry, or a whole host of other office based procedures.

3)      Since the same procedure is easily performed in a physician’s office, when a woman has had a miscarriage, why did these rules specifically exclude those situations? Don’t lawmakers  care about those patients?

4)      The consequences of these requirements will only add to the costs of medicine and thereby increase the costs for everyone, with or without insurance, whether or not they are seeking these services.

 If safety was the overriding principle, then the years of safely performing these procedures in this state should speak for itself. The clinics presently functioning and having a proven safety record should be grandfathered in without the undue burden of conforming to standards of an outpatient hospital. The state has not shown that there is a need for such changes. Those requirements will not change the safety for or the health of the patient.   According to the section of the law below I believe variances should be granted to all presently safely functioning facilities.