New Arizona fetal-tissue reporting rule takes effect

Arizona abortion clinics must report to state health officials what happens to the remains of aborted fetuses, under a new temporary rule ordered by Gov. Doug Ducey and approved by Attorney General Mark Brnovich.

If the fetal tissue is transferred to another person or entity, except for a funeral home or crematory, health officials must also disclose the identity, any compensation received for the tissue, and whether the patient agreed to the transfer. The questions have been added to forms that clinics are required to file with state health officials.

The emergency rules, obtained by The Arizona Republic, were filed with the Secretary of State’s Office on Friday and immediately went into effect. Ducey said the new rule is necessary and is in response to recently released hidden-camera videos that raised questions about whether Planned Parenthood officials are making money from fetal-tissue sales to medical researchers.

Planned Parenthood has said that’s false and criticized the group behind the videos taken in a restaurant, saying the “outrageous claims are flat-out untrue.”

The president of Planned Parenthood of Arizona has said such tissue sales do not occur in Arizona.

Annet Ruiter, vice president of external affairs for Planned Parenthood, had not seen the new rules when contacted by The Republic on Monday. She wrote in an e-mail that Planned Parenthood would “carefully review these rules and determine their impact on our delivery of abortion health care."

In a prior statement, Ruiter wrote, “Planned Parenthood Arizona does not have a fetal tissue donation program. Until the new rules are made public, Planned Parenthood Arizona cannot comment whether we will oppose or challenge them. It will depend on whether they will create new and excessive reporting burdens or additional barriers to women accessing abortion health care.”

The rules, which can be implemented without public hearings, will be in place for 180 days, according to the rules handbook. The rules can be extended once.

But Daniel Scarpinato, spokesman for Ducey, said the governor aims to make the rule permanent:

“Our goal is to make this permanent, either through legislative approval or the regular rule-making process, which would make it permanent,” Scarpinato said.

In response to the video, Ducey, who campaigned on a promise to end unnecessary regulations, ordered the state Department of Health Services to immediately put into effect “emergency rules” to ban the illegal sale of tissue from aborted fetuses.

Federal law already prohibits a person or entity from selling or purchasing fetal tissue and women must provide “informed consent” before donating fetal tissue from abortions. State law does not ban the practice, but no one has shown proof of such sales or purchases occurring in Arizona.

But Ducey, who campaigned on a promise to end unnecessary regulations on Monday said the new rule is necessary.

“What’s happening in these Planned Parenthood facilities — what we’ve seen on video — is horrific and we want to make sure we’re doing everything to ensure that’s not happening in Arizona and that’s what these rules are for,” Ducey said.

He added: “We think what’s happening there is wrong. (Department of Health Services Director) Cara Christ is passing this rule, it’s got our full support and enthusiasm and we don’t want this to be happening inside these facilities.”

Governors across the U.S. have varied in their response to the undercover videos.

In Idaho, for example, Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter has said he will not order an investigation into Planned Parenthood facilities there, media reports say, even though more than two dozen GOP lawmakers have asked him to do so. Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson ordered Department of Human Services to cancel its contract with Planned Parenthood facilities there. And in Florida, Gov. Rick Scott has asked health officials to “evaluate” Planned Parenthood clinics there to make sure they are complying with the law.

Under state law, state health officials monitor licensed abortion clinics. If the director has reasonable cause to believe they are not following laws or rules, they can inspect the facilities. “As written, the proposed rule will assist the Director in determining an abortion facility’s compliance with generally accepted health care practices by reporting to DHS certain information governed by law,” documents related to the rule change state.

Follow the reporter on Twitter @yvonnewingett.

Reach the reporter at yvonne.wingett@arizonarepublic.com or 602-444-4712.