State To Require Licenses For Abortion Clinics

Maryland's health department is adopting new regulations requiring licenses for surgical abortion clinics for the first time.

The new regulations announced Friday apply to about 20 clinics and are a response to a 2010 incident in which a woman needed emergency surgery after an abortion performed by an unlicensed doctor at an Elkton clinic.

Clinics that routinely perform surgical abortions and are not regulated by the state must now obtain a license. To do so, they must meet anesthesia, emergency, laboratory and radiological service requirements adapted from regulations for ambulatory surgical centers.

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