TESSA REDMOND, Kentucky Today

FRANKFORT, Ky. (KT) - Kentucky's pregnancy resource centers have not been licensed by the state in nearly a decade. A House Democrat is seeking to change that.

Rep. Sarah Stalker, D-Louisville, filed House Bill 549 earlier this month, and her bill would establish licensure standards for pregnancy resource centers.

"Any organization that chooses to provide medical services should be held to the same health and safety standards as other facilities offering those services," Stalker said.

HB 549 would direct the Cabinet of Health and Family Services to establish administrative regulations for pregnancy centers, requiring:

• Sanitation standards,

• Staff qualifications,

• Emergency equipment and procedures to provide emergency care,

• Procedures for monitoring patients after anesthesia and providing follow-up care for patient complications,

• Infection control

• Provision of informed consent brochures and a hotline number for victims of sex trafficking or patients who have been coerced into an abortion,

• Annual training by law enforcement on identifying and assisting victims of sex trafficking or women coerced into abortion,

• And policies, supervision requirements and maintenance of medical records.

The licensure process would include an annual license fee, procedures and standards for inspection, a plan for correcting violations and a disciplinary process.

HB 549 defines pregnancy resource centers as "any health facility, place, or institution, that is not a hospital, is not in a hospital or a private residence, and is established to provide pregnancy health care services to women who are pregnant or may be pregnant, including: (a) Pregnancy testing; (b) Counseling; 11 (c) Ultrasounds; and (d) Other pregnancy-related services."

When asked if HB 549 would bind pregnancy centers that do not provide medical services, but do provide pregnancy options counseling, to the bill's proposed licensure, Stalker said she was unaware of any center "that only offers pregnancy tests that can be purchased over the counter."

Several offer only self-administer pregnancy tests, and two do not offer any form of pregnancy testing. A handful advertise medical grade pregnancy testing.

HB 549 does not offer a definition of pregnancy testing.

Stalker noted the ultrasounds and STD/STI screenings offered by many of the state's pregnancy centers. "You can't have those services provided anywhere else that is not a medical setting, so why would we as a commonwealth put our people at risk when these organizations can simply come into the same compliance standards that everyone else does that provides these services? This is a commonsense bill to protect individuals."

Over a dozen of Kentucky's pregnancy centers do not provide ultrasounds or STD/STI screenings, but do offer options counseling, parenting education and material assistance.

Laura Tapp, executive director of Crossroads Pregnancy Resource Center in La Grange, spoke with Kentucky Today on behalf of the Kentucky Area Pregnancy Care Association.

"Pregnancy centers in Kentucky are in the business of providing the highest quality care for women and couples. Our goal is to meet the needs during and beyond pregnancy so our community knows that they are loved and supported. Kentucky licensed pregnancy centers prior to 2018. The elimination of those licensure requirements did not change the way that we conduct our business nor did it lower our standards," Tapp said.

Some Kentucky pregnancy centers were licensed by the state prior to 2018, when lawmakers passed a bill that updated Kentucky's health facility licensing statutes, establishing licensure exemptions for certain outpatient clinics and updating the definition of a health facility.

Pregnancy centers did not meet requirements for Kentucky law to mandate independent licensure, according to Addia Wuchner, executive director of Kentucky Right to Life.

"In consultation with the Administration at that time, the Cabinet for Health and Family Services, the Office of Inspector General, and pregnancy center providers, we clarified how existing law applied and found they did not fall under the scope of a health facility as defined in [KRS] Chapter 216B," said Wuchner, who was serving as a state representative in 2018.

Wuchner said HB 549 would impose regulations for medical clinics onto nonprofit organizations who offer education and support to Kentucky communities, stating Stalker's bill is "an unnecessary and burdensome attempt to control faith-driven, community-based ministries."

"Such requirements risk silencing speech, infringing on religious liberty and forcing smaller centers--especially those serving rural and underserved areas--to close their doors," Wuchner said.

Stalker said her bill is about consumer protection, public health transparency and consistent safety standards, not religious belief.

"Any organization that chooses to provide medical services should be held to the same health and safety standards as other facilities offering those services," Stalker said. "When organizations market themselves in ways that resemble medical providers but are not licensed healthcare facilities, individuals may reasonably assume they are receiving regulated medical care."

House Bill 549 was assigned to the Health Services committee on Feb. 10.