Maryland’s new governor, Wes Moore, has released $3.5 million designated by the state to fund the training of new abortionists. Moore released the money during his first full day of office, January 19.
Though the money was allocated in the passage of the Abortion Care Access bill last April, former Governor Larry Hogan refused to release it, noting that he did not want to allow it to be used to train non-physicians to commit abortions.
“First of all, what this bill did was lower the quality of care and allow people that aren’t doctors to perform abortions. There is no money to be released, although the Legislature is trying to force us to spend money from a different part of the budget, which we are not going to do,” Hogan said at the time.
Moore, however, has said that he wants to use the money in order to make the state a “safe haven” for abortion. “Maryland needs to be a state that’s a safe haven for abortion rights,” he told reporters. “We must as neighbors be able to unite behind the basic principle that all women are entitled to safe health care services.”
The money will be used to train medical providers like nurse practitioners, nurse midwives, and physician assistants to commit abortions. These training sites will be established at hospitals and in communities throughout the state.
“So all of those clinicians who have abortion care in their scope of practice will be able to be trained to provide safe, appropriate abortion care in Maryland,” State Del. Ariana Kelly, the bill’s sponsor, told WTOP.
There are reasons that many states have restrictions that stipulate that only licensed doctors can commit abortions. Abortion comes with a host of potential risks, including hemorrhage, infection, damage to the cervix or uterus, scar tissue, incomplete abortion, and even death. Allowing a non-physician to commit this procedure increases the risk to women.
According to Maryland Reporter, throughout his campaign, Moore promised to make abortion a constitutional right in the state. He considers the release of these funds to be an important first step towards further abortion expansion.
“Our administration will continue to work with our legislative partners, our health care providers, and other critical stakeholders to enact additional protections to preserve and expand access to reproductive rights,” he said.
