{"id":201804,"date":"2019-05-10T08:57:12","date_gmt":"2019-05-10T13:57:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=201804"},"modified":"2019-10-03T10:43:22","modified_gmt":"2019-10-03T15:43:22","slug":"judge-breaks-precedent-non-physicians-abortion-virginia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/judge-breaks-precedent-non-physicians-abortion-virginia\/","title":{"rendered":"Judge voids his ruling to let non-physicians in Virginia commit abortions"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Update 10\/3\/19:<\/strong> After having second thoughts, Judge Henry Hudson vacated<\/a> his original ruling that non-doctors could commit 1st-trimester abortions. He determined that instead, it would be decided after the trial regarding four separate abortion laws which was scheduled to begin on May 20, 2019. That trial concluded on June 6 with closing arguments and Hudson has ruled against non-doctors committing abortions, allowing the initial 1975 Virginia law that only doctors can commit abortions to stand.<\/p>\n

Original Article:<\/strong> \u201cBetween a woman and her doctor\u201d is about to<\/span> get a run for its money. A federal judge has <\/span>declared<\/span><\/a> a 1975 Virginia law stipulating that only doctors can commit abortions unconstitutional, opening the doors to physician assistants, midwives, and nurse practitioners, and other non-physicians to commit first trimester abortions.<\/span><\/p>\n

The <\/span>decision<\/span><\/a> by Judge Henry Hudson, the George W. Bush <\/span>appointee<\/span><\/a> who declared the individual mandate unconstitutional, is the first of its kind from federal courts.<\/span><\/p>\n

Opponents of the law declared it was \u201cunduly burdensome,\u201d and claimed the procedure is simple and \u201csafe\u201d enough to be performed by non-doctors. \u201cThe aspiration procedure takes their physicians only about ten minutes to complete,\u201d Virginia Department of Health attorneys argued. \u201cA medication abortion requires even less physician time, and can be done via Skype \u2014 meaning that the physician does not have to be in the same room (or even the same city) as the abortion patient.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Judge Hudson agreed, saying \u201ca consensus appears to have evolved\u201d on the matter, a victory for abortion profiteers. Puzzlingly, however, Hudson adds, \u201csome [non-doctors] could capably perform first trimester abortions, but I don\u2019t believe their training would support them managing complications.\u201d (<\/span>Page 19<\/span><\/a>). Siding with the abortion industry, he claimed having physicians on-site to safeguard the safety of the procedure was not medically beneficial, placing abortion access over and above the safety of women.<\/span><\/p>\n

READ:\u00a0Montana Supreme Court rules non-physicians may commit abortions<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n