Alabama Health Officials Seek To Revise Unclear Abortion Clinic Regulations

Alabama health officials have concluded that regulations on abortion clinics are unclear and need to be revised, the AP/Columbus Ledger-Enquirer reports. State Bureau of Health Provider Standards Director Rick Harris on Wednesday said, "We need to make sure the rules say what we're intending them to say," adding that revising regulations comes after alleged violations at the Summit Medical Center, a Birmingham abortion clinic (Hunter, AP/Columbus Ledger-Enquirer, 8/9). SMC in June yielded its license in response to a suspension order issued by the Alabama Department of Public Health on May 17 and has been closed since May 18. State health officials said a clinic staff member in February performed an ultrasound on a woman seeking an abortion and determined she was at six weeks' gestation, when she actually was almost full-term. A nurse practitioner gave the woman mifepristone, which when taken with misoprostol can cause a medical abortion, even though her blood pressure was too high. The woman six days later went to an emergency department and delivered a six-pound, four-ounce stillborn infant, according to the health department. The clinic is under investigation for possible criminal charges by state Attorney General Troy King (R) and the Alabama Board of Medical Examiners (Kaiser Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 6/16). Harris also said that three of the state's nine remaining abortion clinics in the last week were inspected and that the investigations' results reinforce a need for revisions in the law. According to Harris and state health officer Don Williamson, the department has neglected to conduct regular inspections of abortion clinics and other health facilities because of a shortage of staff and funds. Harris on Wednesday said that proposed amendments to health facility regulations are expected in about 45 days, but he did not specify which part of the law the clinics have a difficulty understanding. The rules were last revised in February 2004 (AP/Columbus Ledger-Enquirer, 8/9).

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