Editorial:

There are two health related bills in Sacramento that deserve support. The bills are Timely Access to Birth Control (AB 2348) sponsored by Assembly member Holly J. Mitchell and Safe and Early Access to Reproductive Health Care (AB 1338) sponsored by Senator Christine Kehoe. At the heart of both bills is the goal to provide timely, local, affordable reproductive health services in relation to birth control by allowing Nurse Practitioners, Physician Assistants, and Certified Nurse Midwives more opportunity in the area of birth control and early abortion care.

In San Diego, access to clinics and doctors is readily accessible, although throughout the state this is not necessarily the case. Approximately half of California’s counties lack an accessible abortion provider and many areas lack health professionals authorized to dispense birth control. AB 2348 authorizes a registered nurse, in addition to a doctor, to dispense birth control. At present while the nurse does all the preliminary work to perform first trimester abortions through a very safe procedure known as aspiration. it takes a doctor’s signature to actually dispense birth control. This basically eliminates the need of a doctor signing off on birth control prescriptions.

SB 1338 is a little more problematic, but in a closer look represents an opportunity for low income underserved women who do not have local access to a safe, early, abortion care, the much needed access.

At present Nurse Practitioners, Physician Assistants, and Midwives can provide medication abortions up to nine weeks of the pregnancy. This bill will authorize these same medical professionals to perform first trimester abortions through a very safe procedure known as aspiration.

SB 1338 is the result of a long-term study which supports the safe and early access approach. 16,000 patients received the same services, half by doctors, half by trained Nurse Practitioners, Certified Midwifes, and Physician Assistants and the results were equal in satisfaction and low complications in both groups, the big difference being that many women knew their Nurse Practitioner and where more comfortable in familiar surroundings.

Abortion and the talk about abortion is never an easy topic, it often draws out extreme positions and opposition to this process. While we understand the stand against any sort of abortion process, women have the right to a safe and healthy abortion. This is all that these two bills offer, allowing women in every part of California to have access to birth control and and receive early, safe abortion care from providers they already know and trust, in their own communities.

At the same time abortion rights have come under attack and funding has been diminished. Not only is this a stand against the attacks against the right to a woman choosing what is best for them, but these two bills address the issue of better managing and effectively spending tax payer dollars by preventing unintended pregnancies.