The implications of the Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision on the health care and wellbeing of our patients
On June 24, 2022, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled in a 6-3 majority decision to overturn the constitutional right to abortion protected by Roe v Wade since 1973. As health care providers, we are outraged at the Court’s disregard for an individual’s right to make reproductive decisions for themselves and their families and are deeply concerned about the devastating consequences to reproductive care and outcomes in this country for all people. Reproductive health decisions, including growing a family and whether or not to continue a pregnancy, are complex and incredibly personal. Our role as health care providers is to help guide those decisions with empathy and evidencebased clinical recommendations. This ruling undermines a patient’s right to bodily autonomy, free of impositions from government and political pressures, and it threatens the sanctity of complex medical decision-making between a patient, their family, and their medical team.
As medical professionals, we know that every patient’s situation is unique—banning abortion procedures ties the hands of physicians trying to provide the most medically appropriate options in a compassionate manner. We know that both medical and surgical abortions are safe and can save lives. These procedures can help patients with potentially life-threatening conditions worsened by pregnancy, a poor prognosis for the fetus, or a complication from the pregnancy itself. Physicians use scientific research and individualized approaches to help patients in unique situations, and attempts to legislate personal health decisions compromise the practice of evidence-based medicine.
We also know that this decision will impact some communities more than others. Access to safe abortion care will become dependent on which region of the country a person lives in and whether or not a person has resources to seek this care. Due to continued systemic racism and oppression, patients of color will be disproportionately impacted and likely will suffer worse health outcomes from unsafe abortions. Those that rely on public insurance or who are uninsured will face overwhelming barriers in seeking abortion services. These disparities in reproductive care, which contribute to our nation’s health crises in maternal morbidity and mortality, unintended pregnancy, and neonatal complications, will further entrench health inequities, and patient lives and livelihoods will suffer.
We acknowledge the impact that this decision will have on restricting access to reproductive care. We stand by the fact that abortion care is health care. We vow to uphold the tenets of our profession to place patient autonomy and provision of safe quality medical care at the forefront of our practices.
We, as health care providers and physician trainees, hereby pledge:
- To continue to provide evidence-based, nonjudgmental counseling for all pregnancy options, including abortion, and support our patients through all reproductive health decisions
- To promote equity in providing comprehensive reproductive health care, recognizing the impacts of systemic racism and oppression
- To promote high quality training in providing safe reproductive care in our respective institutions
- To use our voices in our communities to advocate for all our patients to have the freedom to access the safe and compassionate health care they deserve.
Sincerely,
The undersigned 747 ObGyn resident physicians
Please note that we sign this statement on our own behalf as individuals and not on behalf of our respective institutions.
Orchideh Abar, MD
Laurel S. Aberle, MD
Kathleen E. Ackert, DO
Lauryn Adams, MD
Temiloluwa Adejuyigbe, MD
Oluwatoyosi M. Adeoye, MD
Hufriya Y. Aderianwalla, MD
Fareeza Afzal, MD
Adelaide Agyepong, MD
Erin R. Ahart, MD
Noha T. Ahmed, DO
Faria Ahmed, MD
Tracey O. Akanbi, MD
Eloho E. Akpovi, MD
Austin H. Allen, DO
Amanda M. Allen, MD
Alexis L. Allihien, MD
Jorge L. Alsina, MD
Paulina C. Altshuler, DO
Sivani Aluru, MD
Amal Amir, DO
Jon Anderson, DO
Andreas Antono, MD
Annie N. Apple, MD
Janine Appleton, DO
Aarthi Arab, MD
Sydney R. Archer, MD
Youngeun C. Armbuster, MD
Kara Arnold, MD
Blessing C. Aroh, MD
Savannah Pearson Ayala, MD
Archana K. Ayyar, MD
Ann-Sophie Van Backle, DO
Connor R. Baker, MD
Japjot K. Bal, MD
Abigail E. Barger, MD
Kathryn E. Barron, MD
Silvia Bastea, MD
Samantha V.H. Bayer, MD
Kristen Beierwaltes, MD
Gisel Bello, MD
Michelle A. Benassai, MD
Dana Benyas, MD
Alice F. Berenson, MD
Hanna P. Berlin, MD
Abigail L. Bernard, MD
Eli H. Bernstein, MD
Julia T. Berry, MD
Bryce L. Beyer, MD
Caroline Bilbe, MD
Grace E. Binter, DO
Erin E. Bishop, MD
Sierra G. Bishop, MD
Stephanie S. Bista, MD
Tara E. Bjorklund, DO
Alyssa N. Black, MD
Continue to: Kelsey Boghean, DO...