California Senate Allows Nurses to Prescribe RU 486 Abortion Drug

by Pro-Life Infonet

Sacramento CA -- The California state Senate voted last week to allow certain nurses and other nonphysician health-care providers to legally prescribe the dangerous abortion pill RU-486, dismissing pro-life advocates' warnings that it would endanger the lives of California women.

In an intense debate, supporters of SB 1301 insisted it would apply to state licensed health professionals who already are authorized to write prescriptions under a doctor's supervision except for abortion drugs.

"If you can do it for other procedures, you can do it for this," argued Sen. Sheila Kuehl (D-Santa Monica), the bill's author. On a party-line vote, 22 Democrats voted for the pro-abortion bill and 11 Republicans voted no.

The bill faces an uncertain future in the state Assembly. Pro-abortion Gov. Gray Davis has taken no position on it, a spokesman said.

The California Catholic Conference lobbied hard against passage of the pro-abortion bill.

"It's irresponsible.... It puts women's health in jeopardy for the sake of convenience and expedience. It goes way beyond the pale of what most people would consider the responsible practice of abortion in California," Dolejsi said.

Sen. Ray Haynes (R-Riverside), the Legislature's leading pro-life lawmaker, tried to amend out the prescription provisions, but his effort was thwarted by majority Democrats.

"The only reason for putting this bill in is to allow non-doctors to perform abortions," Haynes said. "We are going to be subjecting women all over this state to serious injury and possibly death."

He pointed out that in the last few weeks, there had been four serious injuries and two deaths to women who had taken RU-486.

Kuehl claimed there was no evidence that those cases involved the drug, despite a warning to doctors by the FDA.

Under the California Therapeutic Abortion Act, passed in the late 1960s, only physicians can perform an abortion. It is against the law for other medical personnel, such as nurse practitioners, physician assistants and midwives, to perform an abortion or assist in one, Kuehl said. She claimed that prescribing the RU-486 pills is a noninvasive act that comes nowhere near the performing of a surgical abortion.

From:  The Pro-Life Infonet <infonet@prolifeinfo.org>
Reply-To:  Steven Ertelt <infonet@prolifeinfo.org>
Subject:   California Senate Allows Nurses to Prescribe RU 486 Abortion
Drug
Source:   Los Angeles Times/AP; May 20, 2002