State officials have filed emergency regulations "that some abortion providers say are designed to shut them down," The Associated Press reports. The emergency designation means the rules took effect as soon as the Cabinet for Health and Family Services filed them June 15.
"State law requires abortion clinics to have agreements with hospitals and ambulance services to transfer patients in case of a medical emergency," AP notes. "The new regulations say those agreements have to be a legal contract with a hospital within a 20-minute drive of the clinic."
The administration of Gov. Matt Bevin said the regulations are needed to minimize risks in an emergency. But an attorney for Kentucky's only abortion clinic, EMW Women's Surgical Center in Louisville, said the rules are intended to shut it down.
The state and EMW are already in a legal battle over the clinic's status. On Friday, a federal judge allowed Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky to join the case EMW filed against the state. Planned Parenthood claimed the state will use its rules "to prevent any abortion facility from operating in the Commonwealth of Kentucky. No medical facility could ever keep up with the ever-shifting and undisclosed terms of the requirements."
Deborah Yetter of The Courier-Journal reports,"Kentucky officials last year denied a license to Planned Parenthood to provide abortions at the clinic it opened in December 2015 in downtown Louisville, citing alleged deficiencies in its agreements with a hospital and ambulance service."
"State law requires abortion clinics to have agreements with hospitals and ambulance services to transfer patients in case of a medical emergency," AP notes. "The new regulations say those agreements have to be a legal contract with a hospital within a 20-minute drive of the clinic."
The administration of Gov. Matt Bevin said the regulations are needed to minimize risks in an emergency. But an attorney for Kentucky's only abortion clinic, EMW Women's Surgical Center in Louisville, said the rules are intended to shut it down.
The state and EMW are already in a legal battle over the clinic's status. On Friday, a federal judge allowed Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky to join the case EMW filed against the state. Planned Parenthood claimed the state will use its rules "to prevent any abortion facility from operating in the Commonwealth of Kentucky. No medical facility could ever keep up with the ever-shifting and undisclosed terms of the requirements."
Deborah Yetter of The Courier-Journal reports,"Kentucky officials last year denied a license to Planned Parenthood to provide abortions at the clinic it opened in December 2015 in downtown Louisville, citing alleged deficiencies in its agreements with a hospital and ambulance service."
from Kentucky Health News http://ift.tt/2t4dS2i
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