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Jan Brewer Signs Bill Allowing Snap Inspections Of Arizona Abortion Clinics

Jan Brewer Signs Bill Allowing Snap Inspections Of Arizona Abortion Clinics
Reuters
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PHOENIX, April 15 (Reuters) - Arizona Governor Jan Brewer on Tuesday signed into a law a bill allowing state health authorities to conduct surprise inspections of abortion clinics without first obtaining a warrant, handing another victory to abortion foes.

The Republican-backed bill, which gained final legislative approval from the state Senate last week, removes a provision from state law requiring a judge to sign off on any spot inspections conducted at the nine clinics in Arizona licensed to perform abortions.

No other medical facilities in the state require such a warrant for unannounced inspections.

"This legislation will ensure that the Arizona Department of Health Services has the authority to appropriately protect the health and safety of all patients," gubernatorial spokesman Andrew Wilder said in announcing that Brewer, a Republican, had signed the measure.

Critics of the bill called it an unnecessary measure that had little to do with public safety. Instead, they cast the measure as open to abuse by officials with an anti-abortion agenda who might use increased latitude for inspections to interfere with clinic operations, effectively restraining legal access to abortion in Arizona.

Abortion-rights advocates have said they would challenge the measure in court if it became law, adding to a string of abortion controls on the books in Arizona that rank among the most restrictive in the nation.

Arizona now joins 10 other states that allow for warrantless surprise inspections of abortion clinics, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a nonprofit sexual health organization. (Reporting by David Schwartz from Phoenix; Writing by Steve Gorman in Los Angeles; Editing by Dan Whitcomb and Eric Walsh)

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Before You Go

Strange Places For Anti-Abortion Measures
Sharia(01 of08)
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A week before North Carolina Republicans turned to motorcycle safety, they attached proposed anti-abortion measures to a bill that would also have guarded the state from "foreign law." The bill read much like a number of other anti-Sharia proposals that have popped up around the nation, except this one contained a host of restrictions on abortion coverage and providers. (credit:AP)
Motorcycles(02 of08)
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When their abortion-Sharia combination effort failed, North Carolina Republicans concocted a new plan: Tack the anti-abortion measure onto something perhaps even less related.That bill was initially meant to increase penalties on drivers that threatened motorcyclists with their actions on the road. As of this week, it would also impose strict standards on abortion clinics and prohibit sex-selective abortions. (credit:Getty Images)
Flood Insurance(03 of08)
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Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) injected abortion politics into an otherwise uncontroversial flood insurance bill in 2012. The legislation, initially meant to boost the National Flood Insurance Program on the cusp of hurricane season, was expected to pass, until Paul slid in a measure claiming that life begins at fertilization.Paul claimed he was justified in adding the amendment because Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) wouldn't allow a freestanding vote on fetal personhood. His measure eventually succeeded in stalling the legislation. (credit:AP)
Cybersecurity(04 of08)
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Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) filed an amendment to a 2012 cybersecurity bill that would have imposed a 20-week abortion ban in Washington, D.C.The cybersecurity bill ultimately failed, in part because senators couldn't reach a deal on a host of amendments that had been appended to the bill. (credit:AP)
Homeland Security(05 of08)
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Even a Homeland Security appropriations bill couldn't escape the reach of anti-abortion Republicans earlier this year. Attached to the GOP-controlled House's $46 billion spending bill was Rep. John Carter's (R-Texas) measure to block ICE from using agency funding to provide abortion services for detainees except in the case of rape, incest or if the life of the mother would be endangered.According to Barbara Gonzalez, an ICE spokeswoman, that was already department policy, and Homeland Security had not paid for abortion services since its 2003 creation. (credit:Getty Images)
Transportation(06 of08)
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A very passable transportation bill was thrown a curveball in 2012 when Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) submitted an amendment that would have overridden the Obama administration's new contraception coverage rule and allowed any employer to refuse to cover any kind of health care service by citing "moral reasons." The Senate eventually rejected the proposal, and after months of wrangling, the bill was passed by both the House and Senate. (credit:Getty Images)
Agricultural Subsidies(07 of08)
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In 2011, then-Sen. Jim Demint (R-S.C.) took aim at Planned Parenthood with an amendment to an appropriations bill dealing with agricultural subsidies.His bill would have ensured that federal funding toward telemedicine services couldn't have been used by the women's health services provider. Planned Parenthood has tested a system that allows women seeking abortions to connect remotely with a qualified physician to discuss using mifepristone, or RU-486. Trials done in Iowa months before DeMint's amendment showed that the practice was safe. (credit:Getty Images)
Business Tax Credits(08 of08)
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In 2012, Republicans in the New Hampshire state House tried to sneak an anti-abortion provision into an unrelated bill regarding tax credits for businesses. Earlier in the year, lawmakers had voted down a GOP attempt to pass the abortion restrictions by themselves. The state Senate ultimately shot down the second attempt as well. (credit:Getty Images)
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