24-204m Protect Abortion Care: Physician Assistants Allowed to Provide Reproductive Health Care
Date: 03/12/24
New law allows physician assistants to provide abortion care after receiving training and in compliance with protocols.
In an effort to protect reproductive rights, on September 8, 2023, Senate Bill (SB) 385, Physician Assistant Practice Act: abortion by aspiration: training was updated and signed into law. This change aligns abortion training to physician assistants and clears pathways for physician assistants to meet requirements to perform aspiration abortions.
The bill helps expand the network of abortion providers in California by expanding and modernizing training for physician assistants and allowing them to perform first trimester abortions within the scope of their clinical and professional education and training.
The bill was revised to:
- Update the training requirements to require a physician assistant to achieve clinical competency by successfully completing requisite training in performing an abortion by aspiration techniques in accordance with Section 1399.543 of Title 16 of the California Code of Regulations.
- Set forth the type of training required to perform aspiration abortions.
- Allow physician assistants to offer abortion care after completing the proper training.
- Remove the requirement that a physician assistant follow certain protocols to receive authority from the physician assistant’s supervising physician and surgeon to perform an abortion by aspiration.
- Allow physician assistants to perform abortions by aspiration without the direct supervision of a physician and surgeon unless specified by their practice agreement.
Visit the California state legislative to learn more about SB 385.
Protection and guidance for providers
The bill also protects health care providers from facing penalties for performing abortion care services. A person authorized to perform abortion by aspiration techniques shall not be punished, held liable for damages in a civil action, or denied any right or privilege for any action relating to the evaluation of clinical competency of a physician assistant. The bill specifies protection to providers as follows:
A. The Physician Assistant Board shall not suspend or revoke the license of a physician assistant for performing an abortion if the physician assistant performed the abortion in accordance with the Reproductive Privacy Act (Article 2.5 (commencing with Section 123460) of Chapter 2 of Part 2 of Division 106 of the Health and Safety Code).
B. The Physician Assistant Board shall not deny an application for licensure as a physician assistant, or suspend, revoke, or otherwise impose discipline upon a person licensed in California as a physician assistant under either of the following circumstances:
1. The person is licensed or certified to practice as a physician assistant in another state and was disciplined in that state for performing an abortion in that state.
2. The person is licensed or certified to practice as a physician assistant in another state and was convicted in that state for an offense related to the performance of an abortion in that state.
The physician assistant shall achieve clinical competency by successfully completing requisite training in performing these procedures. It is unprofessional conduct for any physician assistant to perform an abortion by aspiration techniques pursuant to Section 2253 without prior completion of training and validation of clinical competency.
Additional Information
Providers are encouraged to access the provider portal for real-time information, including eligibility verification, claims status, prior authorization status, plan summaries, and more.
If you have questions regarding the information contained in this update, contact Community Health Plan of Imperial Valley at 833-236-4141.
This information applies to Physicians, Participating Physician Groups (PPGs), Hospitals, Ancillary Providers, Community Supports (CS) Providers, Enhanced Care Management (ECM) Providers, and Behavioral Health Providers.
This information applies to Medi-Cal in Imperial county.