The Utah lawmaker who is mostly frequently tied to abortion restrictions since the overturn of Roe v. Wade in 2022 now wants to require doctors to differentiate some abortions in medical records upon patients\u2019 request \u2014 a move opposed by the country\u2019s largest OB-GYN group.<\/p>\n
Under HB480 from Rep. Karianne Lisonbee<\/a>, R-Clearfield, Utah health care providers must, upon request, note in a patient\u2019s medical record that an abortion was \u201cnot an elective\u201d one if it was provided for reasons listed in the legislation. The House of Representatives advanced the bill on party lines Monday. <\/p>\n Among the patients who would be able to ask for changes to their medical records are those who have experienced a miscarriage, those whose pregnancy was the result of rape or incest, those whose fetus \u201chad a defect that is uniformly diagnosable and uniformly lethal,\u201d and those whose abortion was otherwise \u201cmedically indicated.\u201d <\/p>\n That final category includes any abortion \u201cto remove a deceased fetus; to remove an ectopic pregnancy; that is necessary to avert the death of the woman; or that is necessary to avert a serious physical risk of substantial impairment of a major bodily function of a woman,\u201d the substitute bill says.<\/p>\n Abortion is currently legal up to 18 weeks in Utah, with limited exceptions. Lisonbee was the House sponsor for a near-total trigger ban lawmakers passed in 2020, which is blocked as it makes its way through state courts.<\/p>\n The current version of Lisonbee\u2019s HB480 defines which fetal abnormalities qualify an abortion as elective or necessary more narrowly than Utah\u2019s current abortion restrictions<\/a>, which makes exceptions when two doctors agree \u201cthe fetus has a fetal abnormality that in the physicians\u2019 reasonable medical judgment is incompatible with life.\u201d <\/p>\n And the bill, under a new substitute, contradicts itself on what is considered an elective abortion. <\/p>\n Elective abortions are defined in the current iteration of the bill as any abortion \u201cthat is not a medically indicated abortion\u201d \u2014 meaning abortions after rape, incest or identification of a fatal fetal abnormality would be legally classified as elective, despite being labeled \u201cnot an elective abortion\u201d in the medical records section of the bill.<\/p>\n \u201cBecause medical terminology is really centered around technical terms, doctors don\u2019t mean to say to women, \u2018Look, you had an abortion,\u2019\u201d Lisonbee told the House Judiciary Committee last week. \u201cBut it happens to many women who have miscarriages, and they take that to heart.\u201d<\/p>\n Medical providers often use the word \u201cabortion\u201d<\/a> to describe the termination of any pregnancy, whether it was induced or not<\/p>\n That terminology appears in one of the world\u2019s most widely used medical textbooks, the Merck Manual<\/a>. And pregnancy loss is identified in International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision<\/a> \u2014 more commonly known as ICD-10 \u2014 codes used to uniformly identify medical diagnoses as an \u201cabortive outcome,\u201d with the word \u201cabortion\u201d appearing throughout the codes.<\/p>\n The procedures and medications for abortions, no matter the reason, are the same.<\/p>\n In a statement to The Salt Lake Tribune, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the nation\u2019s largest group of providers in that medical field, said, \u201cPrecise and accurate documentation is critical for appropriate care. In general, we oppose legislative interference with the medical record.\u201d<\/p>\n (Leah Hogsten | The Salt Lake Tribune) Hundreds of anti-abortion activists rally at Pro-Life Utah’s March for Life at the Utah Capitol on Saturday, in conjunction with the national March for Life in D.C., Jan. 22, 2022.
<\/p>\n During a public comment period in last week\u2019s committee hearing, two people spoke in support of the bill. Both represented anti-abortion nonprofit Pro-Life Utah, which helped draft Utah\u2019s trigger law and, in recent years, has received a significant proportion of its funding<\/a> from the Legislature.<\/p>\n \u201cSome women carry unnecessary shame and guilt quietly over this, and I\u2019ve talked with these kinds of women,\u201d said Danielle Cypers, a registered lobbyist for the group. \u201cOthers I\u2019ve spoken with now believe they have no option but to vote against any pro-life legislation, because without their abortion, they would have died. We cannot blur this line for these women anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n In states where abortion has been banned, however, there have been numerous documented instances<\/a> of women experiencing pregnancy complications losing their lives as doctors and hospitals grapple with the language legislators used in the laws. <\/p>\n People with life-threatening pregnancies in Louisiana have reportedly been forced to undergo a risky cesarean section<\/a> rather than a less invasive abortion procedure by physicians trying to avoid the appearance of violating the state\u2019s abortion ban.<\/p>\n Abortion rights advocates argue changing medical terminology around abortion is a tactic to further restrict abortion access. <\/p>\n Republican lawmakers in South Carolina unsuccessfully attempted to<\/a> bar medical professionals from coding a miscarriage as an abortion last year, and the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists has compiled its own glossary<\/a> of medical terminology.<\/p>\n When a 10-year-old girl who became pregnant as a result of rape was forced to travel from Ohio to Indiana for an abortion in 2022, the head of anti-abortion group Americans United for Life said in congressional testimony<\/a> that because of the girl\u2019s circumstances, the procedure was \u201cnot an abortion.\u201d<\/p>\n Utah\u2019s Planned Parenthood affiliate is leading the lawsuit challenging a near-total ban in the Beehive State. Its president, Shireen Ghorbani, has openly talked about her own experience<\/a> with miscarriage. <\/p>\n \u201cI deeply empathize with the heartbreak of losing a wanted pregnancy, which is compounded by the stigma that is a direct result of the ways abortion care has been weaponized for political purposes,\u201d Ghorbani said in a statement. \u201cThe fact remains that each pregnancy is unique, and every person\u2019s circumstance deserves compassion and understanding, not further governmental interference into essential health care.\u201d<\/p>\n