Doctors have an ‘obligation’ to ‘expand’ abortion access, university researchers claim
Three University of Minnesota (UMN) researchers argued in a Sept. 7 journal article that clinicians have a “professional obligation” to support policies that “expand and protect abortion access.”
The authors also claim that abortion is safer than pregnancy for "Black and Indigenous" women.
Three University of Minnesota (UMN) researchers argued in a Sept. 7 journal article that clinicians have a “professional obligation” to support policies that “expand and protect abortion access.”
Katy Backes Kozhimannil, Asha Hassan, and Rachel Hardeman authored the piece.
Published in The New England Journal of Medicine, the authors described abortion access as a “racial justice issue” and the procedure as an “essential component of comprehensive reproductive health care[.]”
Legal decisions regarding abortion “reflect the status of civil rights for anyone with the capacity for pregnancy,” according to the authors. However, the authors argue that these decisions have a greater impact on “Black and Indigenous people… who have experienced reproductive oppression for centuries.”
“Generations have fought against these unjust tenets to ensure and advance civil rights, and the fight continues,” the authors wrote. “We believe that clinicians have a professional obligation to champion policies that improve the lives of their patients and potential patients, including doing whatever is in their power to expand and protect abortion access.”
The authors also took aim at the Supreme Court case Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which overturned the 1973 decision in Roe v. Wade.
“The Dobbs decision rolls back fundamental rights for many people, and it is a direct assault on efforts to improve racial equity in health care,” the authors wrote. “Indeed, abortion access is fundamentally a racial justice issue. We believe that clinicians, health care delivery systems, and policymakers should approach it as such.”
The authors additionally claim that abortion is “safer than pregnancy and delivery” for “Black and Indigenous people,” and used reported Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data that states these women are more likely to die during pregnancy than White women.
According to the CDC, Black women account for the largest amount of abortions at around 38%.
Jake Ricker, the UMN Public Relations Director, pointed Campus Reform to a June 30 statement from university president Joan Gabel regarding abortion access.
In response to Dobbs, Gabel stated that the university has “an obligation to our students, faculty, and staff to do all that we can to ensure that all members of our community continue to have access to world-class health care, a concern I recognize is more relevant today.”
Gabel also confirmed that “the University of Minnesota Medical School will continue to provide the comprehensive women’s health medical training necessary for all physicians[.]”
Campus Reform contacted all parties mentioned in this article and will update accordingly.
