Committee hears bill to require physician education on North Dakota abortion laws

House Bill 1511, introduced March 17 before the Senate Judiciary Committee, would require physicians who engage in the practice of obstetrics in North Dakota to complete a state-developed instructional course on specific state statutes relating to abortion as part of licensure renewal requirements, Representative Rohrer told the committee.

The bill directs the Office of Management and Budget to contract for development of the course, with final approval by the state attorney general, and appropriates $50,000 for that purpose. Section 1 would prohibit any abortion except when performed by a licensed physician engaged in obstetrics using applicable medical standards. Section 1, subsection 4 would require that a physician “review the educational information created under section 43-17-27.1” within a set period before performing an abortion; Representative Rohrer suggested amending that period from one year to two years. Section 2 would require the Board of Medicine to require obstetrics physicians to complete an instructional course addressing North Dakota Century Code chapters cited in the bill, and section 4 would make sections 1 and 2 effective Jan. 1, 2026. Section 3…