SACRAMENTO, (LSN.ca) – Under a bill proposed in California's legislature, the state could become the first in the U.S. to take away the discretion medical schools now have as to whether or how to offer abortion training. The penalty for non-compliance would be the loss of state accreditation.
The bill, sponsored by Assemblywoman Hannah-Beth Jackson (Dem., Santa Barbara), would allow doctors or schools to opt out if they have moral or religious objections. But it would order medical schools to ensure that obstetrics and gynecology residents could get the instruction elsewhere. It will be debated by the state Senate this week, but it has already won support from a pro-abortion majority in both Assembly (which passed the bill in June) and Senate.
More than half of ob/gyn residency programs nationwide don't offer abortion training — even though the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education requires that ob/gyn residents have access to the training.
Jan Carroll, legislative analyst for the California Pro-Life Council, said, “Obviously our fundamental objection is we think it's offensive that the state should require medical students be trained in killing their patients. It stretches credulity to argue there is a shortage of abortionists in California.”
To read the local news coverage of this story, click here.
(This update courtesy of LifeSite News.)
