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Indiana County Commission Upholds Regulations on Abortions under Criticism

 By Kathleen Gilbert

VANDERBURGH CO., IN, August 20, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Indiana county officials upheld legislation that imposes greater health restrictions on doctors performing abortions after receiving criticism about how the legislation was passed earlier this month. 

The Vanderburgh County Commission passed the "patient safety ordinance" on August 5th.  The ordinance requires that only doctors with local hospital admitting privileges may perform an abortion, and that doctors must inform their patients about where to find follow-up care in case of complications.

Some complained at a county commissioners meeting on Tuesday that the legislation was passed too rapidly and without public input.  Commissioners President Jeff Korb and County Attorney Ted Ziemer Jr. acknowledged that fear of controversy prevented them from publicizing the ordinance; however, Korb said that he did not think the actual ordinance was controversial, only the fact that it addressed abortion.

"This is just providing [women] a safe and clean place to go to if they have post-abortion problems, end of story," he said, according to the Evansville Courier Press.

Planned Parenthood responded to the ordinance on Tuesday by questioning the commission's motives in passing the ordinance for a county that has no abortion facilities.  The Courier reports that Betty Cockrum, president and chief executive of Planned Parenthood Indiana, said that "this type of regulation does nothing to improve health care in our state.  It just further restricts a woman's ability to make decisions about her own future."

But Indiana Right to Life disagrees, supporting the commission's statements on the actual effect of the ordinance.  President and CEO Mike Fichter, in a statement on Right to Life's website, applauded the commission's "proactive step making sure that proper safety requirements are in place if a woman experiences complications after an abortion."

The website recalls that similar legislation in 2007 and 2008 requiring hospital admitting privileges for doctors performing abortions passed in the Indiana State Senate, but was defeated in the Indiana House.

To view the full ordinance: http://www.14wfie.com/global/Story.asp?s=8866924

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