03-29-2016, 09:21 AM
3-28-2016
Utah governor signs bill requiring abortion anesthesia
The governor signed a bill Monday that makes Utah the first state to require doctors to give anesthesia to women having an abortion at 20 weeks of pregnancy or later.
Many doctors in Utah and across the country are concerned that the requirement could increase the health risks to women by giving them unnecessary heavy sedation in order to protect a fetus from pain that it may or may not feel.
David Turok of the University of Utah's obstetrics and gynecology department said that could apply to instances in which a woman is past her due date so the doctor induces labor or there's a problem with the pregnancy, such as pre-eclampsia, so it's safer to deliver the baby early. These common procedures could now require general anesthesia, he said.
"You never give those medicines if you don't have to," Turok said.
Utah governor signs bill requiring abortion anesthesia
The governor signed a bill Monday that makes Utah the first state to require doctors to give anesthesia to women having an abortion at 20 weeks of pregnancy or later.
Many doctors in Utah and across the country are concerned that the requirement could increase the health risks to women by giving them unnecessary heavy sedation in order to protect a fetus from pain that it may or may not feel.
David Turok of the University of Utah's obstetrics and gynecology department said that could apply to instances in which a woman is past her due date so the doctor induces labor or there's a problem with the pregnancy, such as pre-eclampsia, so it's safer to deliver the baby early. These common procedures could now require general anesthesia, he said.
"You never give those medicines if you don't have to," Turok said.
