California lawmakers want non-physicians to commit late-term abortions

A bill to allow non-physicians to commit abortions past the first trimester is advancing through the California legislature.

Key Takeaways:

• In 2013, California allowed non-physicians to commit abortions, and in 2022, expanded to allowing nurse practitioners (NPs) without a doctor's oversight. In 2024, physician assistants (PAs) were approved to commit abortions without oversight as well.

• These abortions were restricted to the first trimester.

• Now, a new bill is advancing through the California legislature, to allow NPs, PAs, and certified nurse-midwives (CNMs) to commit surgical abortions in the second and third trimesters.

The Details:

What would the bill do?

The bill would allow NPs, PAs, and CNMs all to commit surgical abortions in the second and third trimesters, without requiring the supervision of a doctor.

California began allowing non-physicians to commit abortions in 2013, and expanded that provision in 2022 to allow NPs to commit first-trimester abortions without a doctor's oversight. PAs were exempted from doctor's oversight in 2024; now, California legislators are looking to expand the abortions that non-physicians may commit.

AB-1973 has passed both the Committee on Health and the Business and Professions Committee, and will now be sent to the Committee on Appropriations.

What's the stated reason for the bill?

The goal is to ensure there are more abortionists, as a massive increase in abortions is expected in California.

State Senate leader Toni Atkins said, “As states like Texas and others start to restrict further abortion, it just makes sense that women are going to find other places to go. California will be one of those states."

Under the bill, non-physicians would need to undergo abortion-specific training under a doctor's supervision, but after that, would be permitted to commit late-term abortions on their own.

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Looking Back:

Even in 2013, physicians opposed this move.

The American Medical Association (AMA), which supports abortion, denounced legislation allowing non-physicians, like PAs, to perform medical procedures without a doctor overseeing them as “scope creep.”

“Our policy stance is the same on scope of practice expansion regardless of procedure,” Kelly Jakubek, the AMA’s media relations manager, said.

This scope creep matters; the risks of complications are higher when non-physicians commit abortions.

As Live Action News reported in 2023 (emphasis added):

There are many risks associated with abortion, including infection, hemorrhaging, damage to the cervix and uterus, scar tissue formation, harm to the uterine lining, and even death.

According to a 2013 study from the Ryan Residency abortion training program at the University of California San Francisco, abortions committed by non-physicians are more likely to end in complications than those committed by physicians — meaning this push from the abortion industry to allow non-physicians to commit abortions puts women’s health and lives at risk.

Specifically, with first-trimester aspiration abortions, the most common complication was incomplete abortions, meaning parts of the preborn baby were left inside the mother’s body, which can then lead to life-threatening infection and death. 

These risks will only be higher with late-term abortions.

Why It Matters:

The California Family Council highlighted testimony from Mindy Hertzel, a registered nurse with a certification in inpatient obstetrics and Director of Clinic Operations at Sierra Pregnancy and Health. Hertzel warned:

"Second and third trimester abortions are not simple procedures. Risks include hemorrhage, infection, uterine perforation, cervical laceration, amniotic embolism, and more, all of which are life-threatening. When complications occur, they escalate quickly and require immediate experienced interdisciplinary intervention.”

The CA Family Council noted, "Hertzel described a case that shaped her understanding of how fast these emergencies move." She said:

“I’ll never forget experiencing what it looks like to call a code on a patient experiencing an amniotic embolism.

It took our entire unit of nurses, anesthesiologists, the hospital rapid response team, and multiple physicians experienced in labor and delivery to perform the C-section, stabilize her, and transport her to critical care. The response was immediate and extensive.

Had she not been in a facility equipped with teams of people prepared to respond to such emergencies, I hate to think of what the outcome would have been."

Allowing late-term abortions to be committed by non-physicians in non-surgical settings could be, in her words, catastrophic.

“Vulnerable patients should not receive a lower standard of care," she said. "They deserve the highest level of medical expertise, not increased exposure to risk.”

AB 1973 FULL Asm Health Hearing: Expanding Late-Term Abortions by Non-Physicians? | CFC Testifies

The Bottom Line:

This is not a move that will help women; it will hurt them. The only people who will benefit from this are those working in the abortion industry.