Bobby Jindal, Republican Governor of Louisiana signed into law on Thursday an admitting privileges bill that could leave the whole state of Louisiana with one or two abortion clinics. Louisiana is the latest state to fall prey to the unnecessary and politically motivation admitting privileges laws. In order for clinics to operate under the new law, a Doctor from each clinic needs to obtain admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles from the clinic. Sure, you may say, that sounds reasonable...right? Well, it isn't. Primarily the problem starts with the fact that a women who needs to be transferred to an emergency room or hospital with abortion complications has nothing to gain by having the doctor who performed the abortion having admitting privileges. All admitting privileges mean are that the Doctor has a "relationship" to the hospital. The patient will not be turned away or disadvantaged in anyway if her Doctor doesn't have a relationship with the hospital. Consider then that even if a Doctor applies for admitting privileges to a hospital the hospital can deny the request for any reason. Recently a hospital in Texas tried to revoke the admitting privileges they granted to two Doctors after being pressured by anti-abortion individuals who threatened to stage protests at the hospital. The Doctors won the right to maintain their admitting privileges after suing the hospital.
The five clinics in Louisiana have approximately two months to comply with these requirements being having to close.
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