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INDIANAPOLIS – The only doctor who performs abortions in Fort Wayne became the center of attention at a legislative hearing Wednesday on a bill that would require him and his counterparts around the state to have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals.
At times the testimony became emotional with supporters saying the legislation is about providing adequate follow-up care for women and tracking complications. But opponents called it an attempt to limit abortion statewide.
"I’m mixed up on why this is necessary," said Rep. Vanessa Summers, D-Indianapolis. "I just see this as a blatant attempt to deal underhandedly with the abortion issue."
The House Public Policy Committee will hear more testimony and likely vote on Senate Bill 89 next week. The language has passed the Senate before, but this is the first time the House has taken up the issue.
Some Indiana counties have been considering similar proposals, including Allen County. County commissioners in Vanderburgh County, which includes Evansville, became the first in Indiana to pass an abortion ordinance regarding hospital privileges.
The issue arose when a Fort Wayne gynecologist – Dr. Geoff Cly – contacted legislators when he became concerned about abortions performed by Dr. Ulrich George Klopfer at the Fort Wayne Women’s Health Organization.
Klopfer began performing abortions in April 1973, three months after the U.S. Supreme Court handed down its landmark Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion.
He has been affiliated with the Fort Wayne organization since 1986. He currently is based out of South Bend and also performs abortions in Gary. According to testimony, he lives in Illinois.
"He rides the circuit," said Rep. Jackie Walorski, R-Lakeville. "This guy has been botching abortions."
Klopfer did not return a call seeking comment Wednesday.
Walorski and others said requiring abortion doctors to have local admitting privileges would subject them to peer review at area hospitals and make it easier to track instances of medical complications.
Cathie Humbarger, executive director of Allen County Right to Life, showed the committee a pile of 640 Fort Wayne termination reports filed by Klopfer in 2007 and not one mentioned any complications, which she said runs counter to reported treatment provided by Cly.
"This is not about abortion," she said. "This is about adequate medical care."
According to the Indiana State Department of Health, Klopfer performed 1,997 abortions in 2007.
But opponents said it isn’t easy to get privileges at multiple hospitals, and the overall result of the legislation – if not the intention – is to limit access to abortion in the state.
There are nine abortion clinics in five counties – Lake, Marion, St. Joseph, Allen and Monroe.
Dr. Don Henry, a doctor from Munster, said having hospital privileges doesn’t provide oversight on procedures done outside the hospital. And he noted the state attorney general – who investigates doctors – and the state Medical Licensing Board, which disciplines them, have more power than a quality assurance committee at a local hospital.
Suzanne Novak, an attorney for the Center for Reproductive Rights in New York, testified that she doesn’t believe the measure would pass constitutional muster because it would be deemed an obstacle that poses a burden on women seeking abortions.
She noted it is also problematic that the measure would deal only with abortion and not other outpatient invasive procedures, such as liposuction and eye surgery.
"That would raise concerns about its overall purpose," Novak said.
Cly originally brought problems related to Klopfer’s procedures to light in 2007 after he said he had treated several of Klopfer’s patients in the emergency room who had complications after abortions.
He has filed a complaint with the attorney general’s office, according to Humbarger, but no formal charges have been brought against Klopfer, who has never been disciplined by the Indiana Medical Licensing Board.
In addition to Cly’s complaint, Humbarger released information Wednesday about a woman in Fort Wayne who recently filed a complaint.
According to written testimony from the woman, Klopfer performed her abortion Feb. 19. Four days later, she went to the emergency room and doctors there told her the placenta was still inside her along with fetal tissue. She also had an infection in her bloodstream.
The woman gave permission to release her medical records to the committee because "I would like for this not to happen to anyone again."
According to the Indiana Department of Insurance, seven women have filed malpractice claims against Klopfer since 1985. None has resulted in a settlement from the Indiana Patient’s Compensation Fund, and the two filed this decade were dismissed.
