Imagine that you were preparing for a complicated surgery to remove a cancerous tumor in your brain. You go through all the “what-ifs” with your doctor, and you drive to the hospital. You’re quickly gowned and put on a gurney to be wheeled into the operating room, and just as the anesthesia kicks in, you realize that it’s not your doctor beside you. It’s a nurse. “What a second!” you think. “Where’s my doctor?!” “This nurse doesn’t know me!” “She can’t do this!”
Having a nurse do a complicated surgical procedure that has resulted in fatal complications in the past is a terrifying thought. Nurses are not trained to perform surgery, which is why it is illegal (in 43 states and Washington, D.C.) for nurses and mid-level medical professionals to perform the surgical procedure of abortion. This could change very soon, though.
In California, Senate Bill 1338 is going to be voted on this week. This bill, if passed, would change the definition of “surgery” such that aspiration and D&C abortion procedures would no longer qualify as “surgery.” This would make it legal for mid-level medical professionals (nurses, nurse practitioners, midwives) to perform abortions.
Not only would abortion be more readily available if this bill were passed, but having non-doctors perform abortions would lower our standard of medical care. With this lowered standard, we run the risk of women having all sorts of complications. Among those complications are having a perforated uterus, leaving behind fetal parts, and future ectopic pregnancies. All can be fatal.
Dana Cody, executive director of the Life Legal Defense Foundation, said:
“By eliminating the physician from the abortion procedure, a woman will get less medical counseling than undergoing plastic surgery.”
Charmine Yoest, president of Americans United for Life, adds:
The abortion lobby’s effort to lower the standards of medical care for women is a first and an outrage. Given the shoddy treatment and house of horror tales coming from some abortion clinics, it is irresponsible to lower the bar so that women will be even more vulnerable to poorly qualified practitioners.
No matter if we’re poor or rich, we all should receive medical care from qualified and capable professionals. SB 1338 is an outrage, and it directly opens the door for a future of medical horrors to be committed and pushed under the mat. Don’t let it happen. We have the power to change this!
This bill is going to be voted on twice this upcoming week: once on Tuesday, and then on Thursday. The first vote will include swing-vote Senator Ron Calderon and Senator Curren Price, and the second committee vote will include swing-vote Senator Lou Correa and Senator Juan Vargas.
Call the Senators, and urge them to vote “no” on this bill. Stress that you do not want our medical standards lowered.
Senator Ron Calderon of Los Angeles:
(916) 651-4030 (Capitol)
(323) 890-2790 (District)
Senator Curren Price of Los Angeles:
(916)651-4026 (Capitol)
(213) 745-6656 (District)
Senator Lou Correa of Santa Ana:
(916) 651-4034 (Capitol)
(714) 558-4400 (District)
Senator Juan Vargas of Chula Vista:
(916)651-4040 (Capitol)
(619)409-7690 (District)
Since it’s the weekend, your calls will go to voicemail. Let’s fill their voicemail boxes! But don’t stop there. Call on Monday to talk with a person, and keep calling. Urge them to stop our standard of care from being lowered. This fight for life requires persistence. Keep going, keep calling. Your voices will be heard!
