Stutts withdraws hospital stay, mammogram bill

April 01--MONTGOMERY -- Sen. Larry Stutts is withdrawing his bill regarding mammograms and post-childbirth hospital stays.

The decision comes after pushback against the bill and national media attention.

Stutts did not return a phone call Tuesday, but he issued a statement.

"My sole intention with Senate Bill 289 was to re-center healthcare decisions between a patient and her doctor by limiting government mandates," he said. "Recent media attention has not conveyed this genuine intent.

"After careful consideration and feedback from my constituents, I realize this legislation isn't the best vehicle to achieve the original intent."

The bill would have repealed a requirement that women be allowed to stay in the hospital for 48 hours after childbirth.

Stutts, R-Tuscumbia, is a gynecologist and obstetrician. On Monday, the Alabama Political Reporter reported that the law on hospital stays was enacted in 1999 after one of Stutts' patients died a few days after giving birth. She had been released from the hospital 36 hours after childbirth. Her husband sued Stutts and the case was settled out of court.

Stutts' statement said his decision Tuesday was not related to any patient case he had handled.

Last month, Stutts told this newspaper that women and their babies should be able to stay "as long as they need to," and that could be less than 48 hours.

"We shouldn't be legislating hospital stays," Stutts said.

6 co-sponsors

Senate Bill 289 had six co-sponsors, including Republicans Sen. Tim Melson, of Florence, and Sen. Paul Bussman, who represents much of Lawrence County.

Bussman posted a Facebook message Monday, withdrawing his support for the bill.

"It was my understanding that this legislation would simply remove government from the practice of medicine in an effort to improve individual patient choice," he wrote. "Now that I know the full scope of the legislation, I cannot support SB289 and will not vote for it in committee or on the floor of the Senate."

Stutts took to Facebook last week, defending the bill, before the story in the Alabama Political Reporter made the connection between him and the 48-hour-stay law.

"Let me be clear," he wrote. "My goal is to make sure our Legislature stays in Montgomery where it belongs and out of the exam room."

Asked Tuesday morning if he still supported the bill, Melson, who also is a medical doctor, said he wanted to meet with the GOP caucus and hear members' concerns.

"Doctors and patients need to determine the length of stay," he said.

Mammograms

Senate Bill 289 also would have repealed a requirement that physicians report in writing to patients whose mammograms show dense breast tissue. The letter must state dense breast tissue is common, "... however, dense breast tissue may make it harder to find cancer on a mammogram and may be associated with an increased risk of breast cancer." The letter recommends women ask their doctors about more screening.

The letter requirement was created in 2013 by legislation from then-Sen. Roger Bedford, R-Russellville. Stutts defeated Bedford in November. Bedford's wife is a breast cancer survivor.

Longtime lawmaker Rep. Johnny Mack Morrow, D-Red Bay, had planned to organize a public meeting about the legislation before Stutts withdrew it. Tuesday, he said the meeting would go on. He said he invited Stutts and Melson and wanted to hear their rationale for the legislation and wanted to be sure it is dead.

Stutts' press release said he will not be commenting further on this legislation, or any previous litigation, at this time.

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