Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour has signed into law a bill (HB 1525) that requires doctors to report any physical or psychiatric problems caused by abortions to the State Department of Health.
Doctors must report “primary, secondary or tertiary” complications associated with a prior abortion. Information that might be used to identify the patient shall not be included in the report. This law is the first in the nation to require tracking of abortion complications. According to David Reardon, Ph.D., an expert in post-abortion complications, this law is important to begin accessing the true extent and cost of abortion complications. “I’ve spoken to many emergency room physicians who say they treat many abortion complications but prior to now there has been no way to track how often these complications occur. This is an important piece of legislation that will help us to finally begin to measure the social and medical costs associated with abortion-related injuries.” As expected, poor-choice advocates oppose this effort to report abortion related injuries. [The Elliot Institute News Email Publication Vol.2, No. 5 — May 6, 2004 http://www.AfterAbortion.Info ]