The head of North Carolina's Department of Health and Human Services has asked state lawmakers to review a bill that would enact new regulations on abortion providers.
Secretary Aldona Wos told lawmakers at a committee meeting earlier today that her department and the governor are very concerned about patients' safety. News 14 Carolina broadcast the meeting."The experts and the professionals at DHHS believe that some of the most consequential ways we could improve the health and safety of women would really be to dedicate resources to provide more frequent regular inspections and to review our existing regulations," said Wos.
House Bill 695 was passed last week in the state Senate. It would require clinics that perform abortions to have the same standards as ambulatory surgical centers. Onlyone clinic in the entire state currently meets those standards.
The House must either decide to accept the Senate's version of the bill or come to a compromise over it.