The Department of Public Health is looking at changes to the state’s abortion regulations.
Supporters say the changes are needed because current regulations are restrictive and outdated. Critics, though, argued during a public hearing Wednesday the changes go too far.
Lawmakers approved a bill two years ago requiring DPH to come up with new regulations.
“The three subsections that folks are focusing on are antiquated, anti-choice and not medically accurate,” Rep. Gillian Gilchrest (D-West Hartford) and chairman of the legislature’s Reproductive Rights Caucus.
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But dozens of people objected to DPH’s changes on religious grounds during a public hearing held by the department.
“The idea that a baby that survives a failed abortion - cannot receive medical care and suffer, no penalty is beyond gruesome,” Connecticut Catholic Conference Executive Director Chris Healy said.
DPH’s proposed changes include removing a religious exemption from state law for medical providers.
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The new regulations would also remove language requiring lifesaving care whenever the fetus survives an abortion.
But DPH said the criticisms are inaccurate, because other rules apply. Federal law, for example, still provides protections for religious freedoms.
Other state laws, meanwhile, still require lifesaving care for newborns in most cases.
Healy also believes the regulations go beyond what lawmakers intended.
“They should put those bills in and we’ll have a debate but you can’t regulate that from a faceless bureaucracy,” he said.
Rep. Lucy Dathan (D-New Canaan) who co-chairs the legislature’s Regulations Review Committee, disagrees.
The committee did reject a prior proposal, but she said that was because of concerns nonpartisan staff had about how DPH would define abortion.
She said the agency’s current proposal is in line with its authority.
“What the department is proposing here is a regulation that is grounded in facts and science,” she said. “The update is informed by best practices.”
Advocates also said the changes are needed to ensure everyone can get timely access to abortions in Connecticut.
“I just want to be clear – less regulation for abortion care is essential because medical care continues to advance,” Planned Parenthood of Southern New England Vice President Gretchen Raffa said.
Members of the public can continue to submit comments through Sept. 20. DPH will then decide whether to make changes before sending its proposal back to the Regulations Review Committee.
