Remotely administered chemical abortions could be banned

Senators advanced a bill May 10 that would prohibit chemical abortions from being administered from remote satellite locations.

LB521, introduced by Sen. Tony Fulton of Lincoln, would require that chemical abortions be administered in the physical presence of a performing physician.

“I don’t think it’s a safe practice,” he said. “I think it has an unintended consequence of making [abortion] cavalier.”

Hoskins Sen. Dave Bloomfield supported the bill, saying that the number of abortions in the state should be reduced. Furthermore, he said, not having a physician present is unsafe for the mother.

A Judiciary Committee amendment, adopted 33-9 to replace the bill, would make it a Class IV felony for a physician to knowingly or recklessly use or prescribe any instrument, device, medicine, drug or other substance to perform, induce or attempt an abortion without being physically present in the same room as the patient.

Omaha Sen. Brenda Council opposed the amendment, calling it “constitutionally flawed.”

“The intent of this is not to protect the health or safety of the woman who elects this method,” she said. “The intent is to ban this practice in Nebraska and such a banning without a nexus to the health and safety of a woman is unconstitutional.”

Fulton disagreed with Council and said his intent is not to ban abortion in the state.

“The bill is not changing anything with respect to the practice of abortion in Nebraska. This is not designed to strike at the right itself,” Fulton said. “This is simply a matter of safety.”

Council offered an amendment, which failed 9-34, that would have eliminated the requirement for a doctor to be in the same room with a patient during such a procedure.

Council said the telehealth act currently does not require a face to face consultation with a patient. There is no greater health risk to women without a doctor in the room than there would be otherwise, she said.

Lincoln Sen. Amanda McGill supported Council’s amendment, saying a nurse practitioner rather than a physician generally stays with the patient for most of an in-person visit, so it is unreasonable to require the physical presence of a physician.

Lincoln Sen. Danielle Conrad, also an opponent of LB521, said the bill goes far beyond its scope.

“There are risks associated with any drug in any medical practice, so to single this out is where there is a point of disagreement,” she said. “If these health risks exist for this drug and we need to ban them, then the same is true for other telemedicine procedures.”

Fulton said remote chemical abortions should be treated differently from other telemedicine procedures because they involve the termination of a fetus.

The bill advanced from general file on a 34-9 vote.