Abortion ruling is called a Band-Aid
In effect now until perhaps the Legislature decides to amend provisions of SB68, the rule sets up an accounting procedure for hospitals anxious that they might otherwise lose public funding.
"I think it is a Band-Aid fix," Roy resident Glen Combe said of the new rule. "What really needs to happen is that the bill needs to be amended to fix the problem for people without insurance."
Combe accompanied his wife, Suzie Combe, to a Salt Lake clinic to get the procedure performed last month after their IHC hospital and physician declined to perform the surgery. Suzie Combe's pregnancy fell outside the exceptions to the new law because the fetus suffered grave fetal deformities.
Because of the law's threat to eliminate either "direct or indirect" public funding if an abortion is performed for any reason other than rape, incest or serious health risks to the mother, many health providers began turning patients away this spring after the law kicked in.
The law also faces a legal challenge lodged last month by The Utah Women's Clinic and Planned Parenthood Association of Utah. They sued the state, claiming the newly passed state law suffers the same constitutional flaws as the federal statute, which is to say it doesn't go far enough to protect a mother's health or life.
In the meantime, the Utah Attorney General's Office has agreed to delay enforcement of the statute until the outcome of three challenges to a similarly worded federal statute. A preliminary injunction signed Tuesday by U.S. District Judge Paul Cassell enjoins the state from enforcing the law until further order from the court.
Health department officials say the new rule on accounting procedures, which will still go through a 30-day public comment period, is designed to satisfy those concerns as long as the facilities adhere to abortion-related billing codes intended to assure compliance.
"This makes it possible for them to not risk their overall Medicaid funding or other public funds," said Doug Springmeyer, an assistant attorney general who worked with the health department to draft the rule.
Intermountain Healthcare's general counsel Jane Reister Conard said the emergency rule adds a layer of complexity and expense to hospitals and physicians and that the lawmakers should consider amending the law.
And what is left unsettled are options for low-income women who may not have the benefit of a private insurance carrier willing to pay for the procedure.
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