Bossier City Doctor Testifies from Behind a Black Curtain in State’s Abortion Fight

The administrator of a northwest Louisiana abortion clinic says it probably would close if the state is allowed to enforce a law requiring doctors who perform the procedure to be able to admit patients to a hospital within 30 miles of their clinics.
Kathaleen Pittman of Hope Medical Group in Shreveport testified that the doctor who does 70 percent of the abortions there has not been able to get admitting privileges to nearby hospitals. She says the other doctor probably would be unwilling to continue as the only physician on staff. Pittman says both doctors have agreements with local hospitals to take patients from Hope in emergencies. She also testified that most patients live closer to hospitals outside Shreveport and would go to those if they had emergencies after returning home.

The local clinic performs 3,000-plus abortions a year, she said. Pittman could recall only four instances in more than 20 years where patients were taken to a hospital.

Dr. Doe 3, a Bossier City OB-GYN with hospital privileges, told U.S. District Court Judge John deGravelles that he feared for his security if he became the only abortion provider in northwest Louisiana.

I believe that makes me a target for those opponents to abortion. All they have to do is eliminate me like other abortion providers around the country.

Bossier City State Representative Mike Johnson a defense attorney for the state, questioned the accuracy of Pittman’s claims. He said the 0.007 percent of patient complications over the last 20 years Hope reports is limited to the number of patients requiring direct hospital transport. “It leaves out many women who leave Hope Clinic and get care anywhere else,” he said.