DES MOINES, IA – A public hearing is scheduled for 1 p.m. Wednesday, August 28, 2013, for the Iowa Board of Medicine’s proposed administrative rule establishing standards of practice for physicians who prescribe or administer abortion-inducing drugs.
The hearing will be held in the auditorium of the Wallace State Office Building, 502 East Ninth Street. Parking is available in an adjacent ramp at the corner of Grand Avenue and Pennsylvania Avenue. (The hearing was originally scheduled for 2 p.m. at the Board’s office. It is being moved to the Wallace building to accommodate the public’s access.)
The public can also submit written comments on the proposed rule not later than 4:30 p.m. August 28. Written comments should be sent to Mark Bowden, Executive Director, Iowa Board of Medicine, 400 SW Eighth Street, Suite C, Des Moines, Iowa 50309-4683 or sent by e-mail to ibm@iowa.gov
The Board approved a notice of intended action to amend Iowa Administrative Code 653— Chapter 13 on June 28, 2013. The action was taken in response to a petition received on June 25, 2013, which called for the proposed rule.
The rule defines an abortion-inducing drug as medicine prescribed or administered with the intent to terminate the pregnancy of a woman. A physician inducing an abortion with a drug would be required to physically examine the woman and determine the age and intrauterine location of the pregnancy; be present when the abortion-inducing drug is provided to the woman; and schedule a follow-up appointment with the women within 12 to 18 days after the woman’s use of the drug.
The proposed rule was published as ARC 0891C in the July 24, 2013, Iowa Administrative Bulletin. The proposed rule and public comments can be read here.