The Militant (logo)  

Vol. 75/No. 4      January 31, 2011

 
Abortion rights forces
win victory in Iowa
 
BY REBECCA WILLIAMSON  
DES MOINES, Iowa—In a victory for working people, the Iowa Board of Medicine announced January 11 that it will take no action against Planned Parenthood of the Heartland’s telemedicine program, which extends access to abortion pills to rural areas.

The case began in 2009 when Operation Rescue, a longtime opponent of a woman’s right to choose abortion, based in Wichita, Kansas, filed a complaint with the Iowa medical board. The outfit claimed the program was illegal because it “denies women access to physical examinations by licensed physicians.”

The telemedicine program, launched in 2008, has been accessed by more than 2,000 women across the state to receive the abortion pill over the past two years. Planned Parenthood called it “a needed service, and one that our clients demanded.”

The program is the first of its kind in the country. A nurse examines a woman who wants the abortion pill. Afterward, the woman has a consultation via the Internet with a doctor in Des Moines who determines if she meets the requirements to take the pill. If so, she is provided with it immediately. She finishes the rest of the medication later and returns for a follow-up visit with a nurse at the clinic.

Operation Rescue staff member Cheryl Sullenger filed the complaint against Dr. Susan Haskell of Planned Parenthood. The medical board held hearings on the complaint.

The Iowa-Nebraska-Kansas region has been a battleground around the right to choose abortion. Omaha abortion provider Dr. LeRoy Carhart announced in November that he plans to expand access at three more clinics: Council Bluffs, Iowa; Indianapolis; and the Washington, D.C., area. A new law in Nebraska went into effect in mid-October that further restricts access to abortion, making it illegal after the 20th week of pregnancy. The standard is 22 weeks since abortion was legalized in 1973 by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Council Bluffs is about five miles east of Omaha. Some elected officials in Iowa have announced plans to introduce legislation this year similar to the Nebraska law, specifically against Dr. Carhart’s efforts to maintain access for women who seek abortions. Rep. Matt Windschitl, a board member of Iowa Right to Life, said, “I’m taking on the fight … to keep him out of my state.”  
 
 
Front page (for this issue) | Home | Text-version home