Posted on May 23, 2023
Abortion bans drive off doctors and close clinics, putting other health care at risk
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https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2023/05/23/ [login to see] /abortion-bans-drive-off-doctors-and-put-other-health-care-at-risk
The rush in conservative states to ban abortion after the overturn of Roe v. Wade is resulting in a startling consequence that abortion opponents may not have considered: fewer medical services available for all women living in those states.
Doctors are showing — through their words and actions — that they are reluctant to practice in places where making the best decision for a patient could result in huge fines or even a prison sentence. And when clinics that provide abortions close their doors, all the other services offered there also shut down, including regular exams, breast cancer screenings, and contraception.
The concern about repercussions for women's health is being raised not just by abortion rights advocates. One recent warning comes from Jerome Adams, who served as surgeon general in the Trump administration and is now working on health equity issues at Purdue University in Indiana.
The rush in conservative states to ban abortion after the overturn of Roe v. Wade is resulting in a startling consequence that abortion opponents may not have considered: fewer medical services available for all women living in those states.
Doctors are showing — through their words and actions — that they are reluctant to practice in places where making the best decision for a patient could result in huge fines or even a prison sentence. And when clinics that provide abortions close their doors, all the other services offered there also shut down, including regular exams, breast cancer screenings, and contraception.
The concern about repercussions for women's health is being raised not just by abortion rights advocates. One recent warning comes from Jerome Adams, who served as surgeon general in the Trump administration and is now working on health equity issues at Purdue University in Indiana.
Abortion bans drive off doctors and close clinics, putting other health care at risk
Posted from npr.org
Conservative
Abortion
Medical
Health
Purdue University
Posted 12 mo ago
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Most of those clinics don't offer much in the way of "other services" even though they advertise that they do. They refer out elsewhere.
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
...""Making birth free to American mothers can and should be a national unifier in a particularly divided time," says the paper. Such a policy could not only make it easier for people to start families, but it could address the nation's dismal record on maternal mortality.
But a make-birth-free policy seems unlikely to advance very far or very quickly in a year when the same Republican lawmakers who support a national abortion ban are even more vehemently pushing for large federal budget cuts in the debt ceiling fight.
That leaves abortion opponents at something of a crossroads: Will they follow Hyde's example and champion policies that expand and protect access to care? Or will women's health suffer under the movement's victory?"
...""Making birth free to American mothers can and should be a national unifier in a particularly divided time," says the paper. Such a policy could not only make it easier for people to start families, but it could address the nation's dismal record on maternal mortality.
But a make-birth-free policy seems unlikely to advance very far or very quickly in a year when the same Republican lawmakers who support a national abortion ban are even more vehemently pushing for large federal budget cuts in the debt ceiling fight.
That leaves abortion opponents at something of a crossroads: Will they follow Hyde's example and champion policies that expand and protect access to care? Or will women's health suffer under the movement's victory?"
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