Senators Banks and Yoder have introduced SB 179 which imposes artificial barriers on medical service providers who dispense “abortion inducing drugs”; by which they doubtless mean RU486.
Mifepristone was approved for abortion in the U.S. by the FDA, in September 2000. It is legal and available in all 50 states, Washington, D.C., Guam and Puerto Rico. It is a prescription drug, but it is not available to the public through pharmacies; its distribution is restricted to specially qualified licensed physicians, sold by Danco Laboratories under the tradename Mifeprex.
This is, I’m sure, in response to the brouhaha in Lafayette. Per the legislation introduced by these champions of small government, in order to get their prescription drug, women would have to go to a physical structure that meets particular safety standards and is inspected by the State Department of Health.
There is no rational basis for imposing regulations on the physical structures to which women go in order to get their prescriptions filled that is unique to RU-486 or other abortion inducing drugs that do not require any on-site medical procedures or examinations. This is a fairly transparent effort to indirectly make it more difficult for women to get prescribed medications where doing so directly would be unconstitutional.
It also repeals 410 IAC 26-17-2(f) which provides that abortion clinics in operation before July 1, 2006 are exempt from the administrative code section which provides a great deal of detail about the specifics of the required physical attributes of an abortion clinic (including, under this legislation, a place that is an “abortion clinic” by virtue of dispensing particular drugs even if no procedures are performed.) Abortion clinics have to have a reception desk, a waiting area, a lavatory, and a drinking fountain among other things.
Sigh.
Is there anywhere a rule of thumb for the amount of $$$ spent on putting together bills like this?