Post by pavel on Feb 26, 2016 6:03:59 GMT -6
Baton Rouge clinic no longer performing abortions because of new Louisiana law, will refer women to New Orleans location
The number of abortion clinics operating in Louisiana shrunk to perhaps two on Thursday, a day after a federal appeals court granted Louisiana permission to enforce a 2014 law placing new restrictions on doctors who perform the procedure.
The sole clinic in Baton Rouge — one of five operating before the law was passed — said it would stop performing the procedure. A clinic in Metairie had already shut down. And while it was not clear Thursday whether the clinic in Bossier had closed, an administrator at the clinic in Shreveport said her own location and the clinic in New Orleans were the only ones left performing abortions.
The new law requires doctors who perform the procedure to have “active admitting privileges” at hospitals within 30 miles of their clinics, and hospitals are often reluctant to extend those privileges because of the political controversy involved.
A federal judge in Baton Rouge last month declared the law unconstitutional, finding that it placed an “undue burden” on a woman’s right to an abortion. But a panel of judges for the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday that Louisiana could enforce the law while it considered the case.
Read more: theadvocate.com/news/neworleans/neworleansnews/14990099-176/baton-rouge-abortion-clinic-no-longer-terminating-pregnancies-referring-women-to-new-orleans-locatio
The number of abortion clinics operating in Louisiana shrunk to perhaps two on Thursday, a day after a federal appeals court granted Louisiana permission to enforce a 2014 law placing new restrictions on doctors who perform the procedure.
The sole clinic in Baton Rouge — one of five operating before the law was passed — said it would stop performing the procedure. A clinic in Metairie had already shut down. And while it was not clear Thursday whether the clinic in Bossier had closed, an administrator at the clinic in Shreveport said her own location and the clinic in New Orleans were the only ones left performing abortions.
The new law requires doctors who perform the procedure to have “active admitting privileges” at hospitals within 30 miles of their clinics, and hospitals are often reluctant to extend those privileges because of the political controversy involved.
A federal judge in Baton Rouge last month declared the law unconstitutional, finding that it placed an “undue burden” on a woman’s right to an abortion. But a panel of judges for the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday that Louisiana could enforce the law while it considered the case.
Read more: theadvocate.com/news/neworleans/neworleansnews/14990099-176/baton-rouge-abortion-clinic-no-longer-terminating-pregnancies-referring-women-to-new-orleans-locatio