ANCHORAGE: Lieutenant Governor Mead Treadwell certified new questionable abortion regulations despite counsel that the regulations are likely unconstitutional.

The non-partisan Legislative Affairs Agency found the regulations “create a new and restrictive state standard for determining when abortion services are ‘medically necessary’ without applying this same standard to coverage for other types of medical care services.”

“By certifying regulations that appear to be unconstitutional, Mead Treadwell put his political ambitions ahead of his duties as Lieutenant Governor and forced regulations on Alaska women that were already rejected by the state legislature,” said Mike Wenstrup, Chair of the Alaska Democratic Party.

The Administration proposed “medically necessary” regulations after Senator Coghill’s legislation (SB 49) to accomplish the same goal was “bitterly opposed” and failed to pass the state legislature last year. Parnell’s new regulations force women and doctors to reveal highly personal medical information to government employees.

In acknowledgment of his new regulations’ unpopularity, Parnell posted the regulations on an obscure state webpage. Neither he nor Health and Social Services Commissioner Bill Steuer publicized the controversial new regulations even though they will have significant impacts on provision of health care in Alaska.