MCC touts new Maryland abortion draft regulations

The Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DHMH) has published draft regulations for sites performing surgical abortions that the Maryland Catholic Conference believes “will go a long way to protect the health and safety of women undergoing surgical abortions in Maryland.”

The MCC, the legislative lobbying arm of Maryland’s bishops, “The fact that the regulations are based on those that govern other outpatient surgical facilities demonstrates DHMH’s commitment to protecting patients undergoing all types of invasive surgical procedures, including abortion.”

The statement continued: “While there are a few places in the document where important elements have been omitted and the protection afforded women can be improved, overall the regulations will do much to stop the needless maternal deaths and injuries that have occurred in Maryland’s abortion clinics.”

“We especially appreciate the efforts of DHMH to work closely with stakeholders to draft protections that everyone can live with,” the MCC said in the statement. “It also must be said that none of this would have been possible without the voices of Marylanders, those who consider themselves pro-choice as well as those who consider themselves pro-life, speaking out and calling for an end to 18 years of unregulated and unsafe abortion clinics.”

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