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The Allen County commissioners this week plan to introduce a bill that would put additional requirements on physicians performing abortions in the county.
Commissioner Nelson Peters said a bill would be introduced Friday that would require all surgeons and doctors who provide outpatient invasive procedures to have ties to a local hospital and have on-call, after-hours staff to handle emergencies. A draft of the bill was not yet available Monday afternoon.
Peters said it was important for anyone performing invasive procedures to have admitting privileges to local hospitals to ensure people who experience problems with those procedures have somewhere to go and get the best care. While the new local legislation would affect abortions, it would affect other procedures as well.
“It really is a quality-of-care issue,” he said.
The Vanderburgh County commissioners in Evansville passed a similar ordinance last month. Backers say such measures protect patient safety, but abortion providers say they restrict women’s access.
The doctor who performs abortions for the lone clinic in Fort Wayne is based in South Bend. Dr. George Klopfer also works in Gary. Klopfer previously questioned whether county government had jurisdiction to require such a change when he is already licensed through the state.
He also previously predicted that the county couldn’t enforce such a law and that it would likely end up in a lengthy court battle.
Cathie Humbarger, Allen County Right to Life president, said her group supports the bill because there are anecdotal reports of abortion complications, although there is no way to actually track those problems. She said the bill added reasonable requirements for doctors.
“It would seem those interested in the health of women would certainly be a supporter of this particular action,” she said.
Peters said a vote is unlikely at this week’s 10 a.m. Friday meeting, but Commissioner Linda Bloom previously said she supported the concept and believed the county would approve some form of the bill this year.
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