Louisiana Clinic Shut-Down Bill Signed

Abortion clinics can now legally be shut down at the discretion of one man - the Health Secretary in Louisiana.

The Health Secretary of the State of Louisiana now has the sole ability to shut down clinics that provide abortion, according to CNBC:

Louisiana’s health secretary now has more discretion to shut down an abortion clinic for safety or health concerns.

Gov. Bobby Jindal signed the bill into law Wednesday that gives the head of the Department of Health and Hospitals the ability to quickly suspend a license if he decides there is an immediate health or safety threat at one of a handful of clinics in the state that provide abortions.

Clinics can appeal the license suspension.

Prior to this piece of legislation, it took a panel of three judges to approve a clinic’s license suspension.

Governor Jindal has yet to sign the bills mandating ultrasounds before all abortions, even those for rape victims, or the bill denying malpractice insurance to doctors providing elective abortions, but is expected to approve both bills.