Will Kansas Become the First State Unable to Train and Accredit New OB-GYNs?
There has been much written here at RH Reality Check on Kansas’ sweeping 68 page abortion restriction bill. Dubbed the “no taxpayer funds for abortion act” by it’s authors and proponents, in reality the bill goes far beyond it’s misleading title. For those that consider abortion part of a full spectrum of women’s health care and are sick to death of Kansas lawmakers obsession with restricting women’s rights and oppression of women writ large, the whole of its 68 pages… just stinks.
But there is one particular part of this stinky bill that has grabbed the attention of Kansans and that forced the House Federal and State Affairs Committee into meetings where a compromise amendment was sought by an unlikely participant in the Kansas abortion debate, that participant being the KU School of Medicine.
The part of the bill under scrutiny is a section that states:
“no health care services provided by any state agency, or any employee of a state agency while acting within the scope of such employee’s employment, shall include abortion”.
Residents of KU Med School are considered employees of the state for insurance purposes. KU Med School must teach abortion as part of its ob-gyn training. Under Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) guidelines, abortion care must be a part of residency education.
Through the course of these closed-door meetings and discussions, a temporary compromise amendment was obtained. The amendment reads as follows,
Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to prevent a physician enrolled in a residency program and employed by the university of Kansas medical center from receiving experience with induced abortions conducted at facilities other than those owned, leased or operated by the university of Kansas hospital authority or any other state entity. For purposes of this act only, such physicians shall be considered as acting outside the scope of their official employment in such actions. This provision regarding physicians enrolled in a residency program shall remain in effect through June 30, 2013.
The “compromise” is a sunset clause. So, in one year’s time, the accreditation of KU Med School will once again be at risk. To which, pro-choice Representative Sean Gatewood stated, “This amendment essentially gives the women of Kansas a year to flee.”