Louisiana Moves Ahead With Abortion Regulation Rewrite

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Louisiana  Gov. Bobby Jindal's administration has rewritten the state's abortion clinic regulations, a move that abortion-rights supporters say was unnecessary and intended to hinder the operation of clinics.

The state Department of Health and Hospitals this week published the final version of the 20-page revamp of clinic licensing standards.

The agency says the rewrite accounts for recent legislative changes and simply spells out facility licensing requirements and staffing provisions that are designed to protect women's safety.

Critics say the reworked licensing standards add burdensome paperwork requirements, demand duplicative filings and make it easier for the state to cite an abortion clinic for deficiencies and yank its license. They also say the regulations offer limited ways for a clinic to appeal a license revocation.

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