In a California Healthline Special Report by Kenny Goldberg, experts discussed how legislation could potentially expand access to one type of abortion, particularly in rural, underserved areas of California.
The legislative proposal would expand the scope of practice for nurse practitioners, certified nurse-midwives and physician assistants — allowing them to use a non-surgical procedure to perform a particular type of abortion. The procedure is called aspiration, and it’s used to terminate a pregnancy within the first trimester.
Expansion of practice scope could mean expansion of patient access to abortions in areas of California where few physicians are available to perform them.Â
The Special Report includes comments from:
- Toni Atkins, member of the California Assembly (D-San Diego);
- Camille Giglio, president of the California Right To Life Committee;
- Sierra Harris, assistant director of ACCESS Women’s Health Justice; and
- Tracy Weitz, associate professor of UC-San Francisco (Goldberg, California Healthline, 5/8).
The complete transcript of this Special Report is available as a PDF.