HB 2036 was passed and signed during the 2012 legislative session…  tasking the ADHS with several things related to the regulation of abortions.  Among them were requirements for us to: 1) Develop a parental informed consent form for minors seeking an abortion;  2) Establish a website with information identified in the Statute; and 3) Require abortion clinics to post signs stating that it’s unlawful for anyone to force a woman to have an abortion. 

We’ve already finished the items above.  Today we completed the last administrative step in implementing the Law.  This morning we filed a final set of new Rules for abortion clinics in Arizona.  The new Regulations will take effect on April 1, 2014, and will require: 

  • Ultrasound equipment in all abortion clinics;
  • Physicians performing a medication abortion to have admitting privileges at a hospital;
  • Physicians performing a surgical abortion to have admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles of the clinic;
  • Any medication used to induce an abortion to be administered in compliance with the FDA protocols as outlined in the printed label instructions;
  • An RN, NP, LPN, or PA to be on site for monitoring and care after inducing a medication abortion if a physician isn’t present;
  • Recovery room standards including immediate post procedure care for surgical abortions;
  • Care standards that must be provided after inducing a medical abortion;
  • Incident reporting including anything that requires ambulance transportation of the patient; and
  • Patient follow-up standards. 

We currently license 4 abortion clinics (3 in Phoenix and 1 in Tucson) and 5 outpatient treatment clinics authorized to perform abortion services (2 in Phoenix, 1 in Glendale, 1 in Tempe, and 1 in Tucson).   These new standards will apply to each of the facilities beginning April 1. 

BTW: We publish a comprehensive annual report with abortion statistics and demographic characteristics every year. The report presents data regarding elective abortions as well as complications resulting from an abortion.  Last year’s report found a 7.4% year-to-year decrease in overall abortions in AZ.