We were served Wednesday with a lawsuit seeking declaratory and injunctive relief from our new Abortion Clinic Regulations that are scheduled to go into effect on April 1. The new regulations were in response to HB 2036, which was passed and signed during the 2012 legislative session… tasking us with several things related to the regulation of abortions. Among them was a requirement that we adopt new Rules for abortion clinics and outpatient treatment centers that provide abortion services. The statute was very prescriptive, so our Rules basically mirror the Law.
The primary complaint from Planned Parenthood of AZ, Inc. is centered around our upcoming requirement that any medication used to induce an abortion be administered in compliance with the FDA protocols as outlined in the printed label instructions (many clinicians currently use the medication “off label”).
The new regulations are scheduled to apply to the 4 abortion clinics (3 in Phoenix and 1 in Tucson) and 5 outpatient treatment clinics authorized to perform abortion services (2 in Phoenix, 1 in Glendale, 1 in Tempe, and 1 in Tucson) beginning April 1, 2014.
