Abortion: authorized procedures

The law allows authorized clinicians to provide abortions at later stages of pregnancy within their training and scope of practice. It adds care-coordination safeguards for nurse practitioners and nurse-midwives performing procedural abortions beyond the first trimester.

What the law does ​

• Allows clinicians licensed under specified medical, nursing, osteopathic, and physician-assistant laws to perform abortions when their license or certificate authorizes it, without a first-trimester restriction.
• Requires nurse practitioners, certified nurse-midwives, and physician assistants performing procedural abortions to complete clinical and classroom training and demonstrate clinical competency.
• Requires nurse practitioners and certified nurse-midwives performing procedural abortions beyond the first trimester to use written procedures for physician consultation, referral, and transfer of care when a case exceeds their training or experience.
• Bars training that is exclusively online or simulation-based without required direct patient-care clinical hours from meeting procedural-abortion training requirements.
• Allows trained qualifying nurse practitioners to perform procedural abortions without physician supervision and trained physician assistants to do so without a supervising physician's personal presence unless their practice agreement says otherwise.

Who it affects ​

• Patients seeking abortion care, including beyond the first trimester.
• Nurse practitioners, certified nurse-midwives, and physician assistants who provide abortion care.
• Physicians and surgeons who consult on, receive referrals for, or train clinicians in procedural abortion care.