California: Bill to allow some non-physician abortions is pulled

◼ A controversial proposal to allow some nurses, midwives and physician's assistants to perform certain first-trimester abortions was pulled by its author Friday as she acknowledged it lacked the votes to pass a key legislative committee. - LA Times

The proposal, SB1338, would have positioned California in opposition to many other states that are restricting access to abortions. In its initial version, it would have allowed some medical workers to perform aspiration abortions, a less-invasive first trimester procedure that can currently be performed only by physicians in California.

The bill had the backing of the Democratic leaders of both houses of the Legislature and Planned Parenthood, which ran radio ads targeting legislators on the balking committee. But it was opposed by an influential nurses union and abortion foes.