HARRY HUGHES, Governor

593

term "unprofessional conduct" to clarify those
acts that are unprofessional conduct. The last
sentence of present Art. 43, § 130(h)(19), which
refers to a copy of a court judgment or
proceeding of an administrative agency that
relates to a conviction being evidence of a
ground for disciplinary action, is deleted as
unnecessary.

As to the power of the Board to deny a license
for any of the reasons listed as grounds under
this section, see § 14-205 of this title.

The attention of the General Assembly is called
to the fact that present Art. 43, § 130(h)(3),
which provides grounds for disciplinary action
against a physician who performs "an abortion
outside a licensed hospital", is
unconstitutional, at least as to the first
trimester of pregnancy, in the light of decisions
of the United States Supreme Court and the United
States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.
In Vuitch v. Hardy, 473 F. 2d 1370 (4th Cir.
1973) (per curiam), the Fourth Circuit affirmed
the action of the United States District Court
for the District of Maryland that declared
unconstitutional the requirement that an abortion
be performed in a hospital accredited by the
Joint Commission on Accreditation of Hospitals
and licensed by the Department. The District
Court held that there is no "compelling state
interest" for the imposition of statutory
limitations on the performance of an abortion
provided for in present Art. 43, §§ 137 and
139(a) of the Code. Vuitch v. Hardy, Civ. No.
71-1129-Y (D. Md. filed June 22, 1972). The
Fourth Circuit said that the Supreme Court cases
of Doe v. Bolton, 410 U.S. 179 (1973), and Roe v.
Wade, 410 U.S. 113 (1973) "make clear that the
district court correctly decided the case".

"The decisions in Roe and Doe expressly state
that regulation by the State as to the facility
in which an abortion is to be performed is the
type of regulation which can only occur after the
'compelling point' or end of the first
trimester...". Arnold v. Sendak, 416 F. Supp.
22, 24 (S.D. Ind.), aff'd 429 U.S. 968 (1976).
In Sendak, the United States Supreme Court
affirmed a decision that held unconstitutional an
Indiana statute requiring first trimester
abortions to be performed by a "physician in a
hospital or a licensed facility". 429 U.S. at
968; 416 F. Supp. at 23. For a discussion of the
impact of Roe and Doe, supra on present Maryland
statutes that regulate abortion, see 62 Op. Att'y
Gen. 3 (1977).