Medical students will flee the state if Issue 1 fails
Ohio is my home.
I grew up in Cincinnati, I’ve gone to school in and worked across the state, and now, I am a third-year medical student studying to become an OB/GYN at the Ohio State University College of Medicine.
I care deeply about this state and want to continue serving Ohioans as a future physician – but the possibility of an extreme abortion ban in the state is forcing me and so many of my peers to rethink our futures.
Abortion is essential healthcare.
As a medical student, I believe in bodily autonomy for all, which includes the right to accessible and accurate medical information.
And as a future physician who hopes to practice in Ohio, I will continue to fight against the abortion bans threatening the rights of doctors and patients across the state — including by voting ‘yes’ on Issue 1, the Right to Reproductive Freedom amendment to the Ohio Constitution, by Nov 7.
As a medical student and as someone who previously supported people through abortions in a medical setting, I have seen firsthand the consequences and emotional toll of the many barriers that patients seeking abortion care are forced to overcome.
After countless clinical experiences working with patients who are wracked with fear and anxiety, forced to navigate the difficult and deeply personal decision to get an abortion in a state where the procedure is deeply stigmatized and restricted by legislators, I am shocked by the utter disregard for medical best practices by anti-abortion legislators and activists.
Despite opposition from medical experts such as the American Medical Association and the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, Ohio’s elected officials continue to push burdensome regulations on abortion care under the guise of patient safety.
Medical students are concerned about the future of Ohio if Issue 1 fails
I am not the only medical student who is concerned. According to a national survey of nearly 500 third- and fourth-year medical students with interests across specialties, nearly 60 percent reported that they were unlikely to apply for residency training in a state with abortion restrictions.
This is in addition to the scores of doctors who have left or intend to leave states with abortion bans in place. In a state where a shortage of healthcare workers is already a serious concern, abortion restrictions will have devastating consequences not just for patients seeking reproductive services, but for all Ohioans looking for quality health care.
Ohio has made procedures unnecessarily invasive
By ignoring the advice and perspectives of medical professionals and subjecting abortion care to unnecessary and costly standards that are not applicable to any other form of health care, anti-abortion extremists are preventing patients across the state from accessing timely, high-quality health care.
The undue standards that legislators have imposed on abortion care have also forced providers to perform invasive and unnecessary procedures on patients seeking abortion care that go against medical best practices.
During my experience as a surgical assistant performing ultrasounds, for instance, I was forced to perform unnecessary transvaginal ultrasounds on patients.
Once an intrauterine pregnancy was confirmed via an abdominal scan, we could be certain that the patient would be a safe candidate for medication or surgical abortion. However, the requirement to record the presence of fetal cardiac activity often meant I also had to insert a vaginal probe, causing great discomfort for the patient — and, in some cases, exacerbating harm from previous traumatic experiences, such as sexual assault.
The hoops that physicians and health centers are forced to jump through to provide abortion care seem particularly absurd when considering the fact that the procedure — which an estimated one in every 4 women of reproductive age will obtain in their lifetime — has a 99 percent safety record.
The existence of these barriers and restrictions crafted by politicians, not health care experts, makes it confusing for providers to know when it is acceptable to offer treatment.
The reality is that these restrictions cast a serious chilling effect that causes doctors and other medical providers to turn away or delay care for patients, often against their best judgment and with dire consequences for their patients’ health and wellbeing.
Ellena Privitera is a born and raised Ohio resident and medical student at The Ohio State University College of Medicine.