From the Los Angeles Times blog:
A state senator is proposing to significantly expand access to abortion in California by allowing licensed nurse practitioners, physician assistants and nurse midwives to perform nonsurgical versions of the procedure in the first trimester of pregnancy.
Sen. Christine Kehoe (D-San Diego) late last week introduced SB1501, which would allow medical professionals who are not doctors to perform aspiration abortions, which is the procedure most often used to terminate a pregnancy in the first trimester.
Kehoe said she introduced the bill because half of California’s counties do not have an abortion provider. The proposal is cosponsored by the leaders of each house of the Legislature, a sign it has significant support in the Democrat-dominated body.
“We believe it will give many California women access to earlier, safer procedures in the first trimester of their pregnancy,” Kehoe said at a news conference in Sacramento on Tuesday.
Currently, the report states, there are four states that allow non-doctors to perform abortions. Supporters of the bill argue that it is unfair that some women seeking abortions must travel for several hours to procure the necessary medical procedures to rid them of their disea—er, unborn baby. 150 years ago, pioneers risked life and limb to travel from the East Coast or St. Louis to find a better future in California. Now there are residents of California who think that traveling four hours by bus or car to destroy the future, life and limb, is an act of nearly impossible stamina and valor.
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