Introduced by Assembly Member Calderon (Coauthors: Assembly Members Bauer-Kahan, Bennett, Friedman, Cristina Garcia, Jones-Sawyer, Kalra, and Mullin)
This bill prohibits the Medical Board of California or the Osteopathic Medical Board from suspending or revoking the certificate of a physician solely for performing an abortion, so long as the physician performed the abortion in accordance with the provisions of the Medical Practice Act and the Reproductive Privacy Act.
It also prohibits the Board of Registered Nursing and the Physician Assistant Board from suspending or revoking the certification or license of a nurse practitioner, nurse- midwife, or a physician assistant, for performing an abortion so long as they performed the abortion in accordance with the provisions of the Nursing Practice Act or the Physician Assistant Practice Act, as applicable, and the Reproductive Privacy Act.
POSTED: June 7, 2022
STATUS: Senate Business, Professions and Economic Development - hearing 6/13/2022
POSITION: Oppose
Thoughts for consideration:
· Botched abortions do exist and have been documented with injuries ranging from minor to fatal. This bill makes it more difficult to prosecute a physician or surgeon for any abortion procedure that fails or where possible malpractice could or would be involved.
· Is it reasonable that this prohibition should apply to only this procedure, since only an abortion procedure is apparently protected?
· Other bills currently encourage travel to California as a welcoming state with the Guttmacher Institute estimating a 3000% increase in abortions performed in California, especially from those states banning such procedures. Will safety of the mother be protected?