PHOENIX — A House committee voted Wednesday to stop a Tucson nurse practitioner from performing surgical abortions.
The legislation, HB 2269, does not identify Mary Andrews, who works for Planned Parenthood Arizona. Instead, it prohibits nurse practitioners from performing abortions.
The state Board of Nursing is already reviewing a complaint against Andrews. It has yet to decide if she is doing anything illegal.
But Rep. Bob Stump, R-Peoria, who chairs the House Health Committee, said he sees no need to wait until the board makes a ruling. He said the issue of who gets to do what should be defined by the Legislature.
A majority of the panel agreed, voting 6-3 to send the measure to the full House.
At the heart of the debate is the question of whether a nurse practitioner is qualified to perform the procedure.
While state law regulates nursing, the issue of what nurses can do generally is spelled out in regulations. That is particularly true of registered nurse practitioners who have advanced training.
Nothing in the rules specifically addresses the question of abortions, stating instead that these people are entitled to “perform therapeutic procedures that the registered nurse practitioner is qualified to perform.”
Michelle Steinberg, a spokeswoman for Planned Parenthood, said her organization has been using a nurse practitioner for eight years “with fewer complications than the national average.”
Steinberg said there are a number of more complicated procedures nurse practitioners are allowed to perform, ranging from inserting an intrauterine device for birth control to lumbar punctures and placing a catheter in a jugular vein. “There’s nothing to indicate that nurse practitioners are not within the scope of practice to do this.”
But last June someone — the name is not public record — filed a complaint against Andrews with the Board of Nursing.
Valerie Smith, the agency’s associate director for investigations and compliance, said board members considered the matter in November but were unable to make a decision. She said the board directed the staff to investigate further. The issue is now on the agenda for a meeting later this month.
Cathi Herrod, president of the Center for Arizona Policy, said the failure of the Board of Nursing to halt the practice immediately shows lawmakers need to step in. She said 37 states prohibit nurse practitioners from performing abortions.
Herrod acknowledged her organization has lobbied to make all abortions illegal or impose new restrictions. But she said she doesn’t see this measure as part of the perennial debate over legal abortion.
“This is really, in my view, a women’s health issue,” she said. “It’s about how women are going to be taken care of who are having abortions and who legally should be allowed to perform legal surgical abortions.”
Steinberg said there is no evidence abortions performed by nurse practitioners are unsafe. She also said more complex procedures, particularly if a woman is further along in her pregnancy, always are performed by a doctor.
There already are other laws on the books that regulate abortion clinics. Those statutes, Herrod said, clearly refer only to “doctors” when spelling out who can legally terminate a pregnancy.
But Smith said the Board of Nursing is empowered to decide the question of whether Andrews is acting improperly based solely on the regulations.
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