As End of Roe Looms, US Doctors Say ‘Abortion Is Essential Healthcare’

The leading professional association of obstetricians and gynecologists on Monday responded to “the anticipated upending of 50 years of well-settled law” regarding abortion care by the U.S. Supreme Court by strengthening its policy on the issue and condemning right-wing legislators who spread misinformation about abortion as they roll back reproductive rights.

The board of directors of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) updated its policy on abortion by making clear that the procedure “is an essential component of comprehensive, evidence-based healthcare” and the group “strongly opposes any effort that impedes access to abortion care and interferes in the relationship between a person and their healthcare professional.”

“Abortion is a critical medical intervention that can save and improve the lives of our patients,” said Dr. Iffath Abbasi Hoskins, president of ACOG and chair of the board of directors. “Although ACOG’s long-standing abortion policy supported safe, legal, evidence-based abortion care, the current reproductive health crisis calls for revisions which make it unmistakably clear that ACOG trusts doctors and patients—and not lawmakers—to make decisions about what is best for patients’ health and well-being.”

Twenty-six states are expected to immediately ban abortion if Roe is overturned, and right-wing lawmakers in 42 states have introduced 546 pieces of legislation so far this year which would ban or restrict people’s right to obtain abortion care.

Following the leak of the draft decision, ACOG announced it was canceling plans to hold its 2023 annual meeting in New Orleans due to Louisiana’s “trigger law,” which would outlaw abortion if Roe is overturned.

“Holding the nation’s largest gathering of obstetrician-gynecologists in a location where the provision of evidence-based care is banned or subject to criminal or other penalties is directly at odds with our mission and values,” said the group last week.

ACOG also condemned Oklahoma’s recently passed law which prohibits abortions starting at fertilization, calling it an “egregious assault on patients and clinicians.”

Along with its updated policy, ACOG on Monday published an article explaining its decision to unequivocally fight right-wing attacks on abortion rights, noting that lawmakers and commentators who support forced pregnancy have “misrepresented and unscientifically redefined” medical terms like “viability” in an effort to strictly limit when a patient can obtain an abortion.

“The word viability is used in the political arena and defined in proposed legislation without regard to medical evidence or the facts of a particular case,” said the group. “Questions about whether and when to access abortion care should be removed from the political context and returned to the patient and their trusted healthcare professional.”

“We don’t believe that elected politicians… can or should be in the exam room weighing those factors or in a position of substituted judgment for our members and their patients,” the group added.

Originally published at Commondreams.org, written by Julia Conley.