What the End of Roe v. Wade Will Mean for the Next Generation of Obstetricians

June 2, 2022

(The New Yorker) – Still, there’s a surprising amount of subtle variation among how people in the medical community think about this issue. All students and young doctors have to sort out questions of how they want to practice medicine; aspiring ob-gyns’ views on abortion might determine what training they seek out, which specialities they pursue, and where they choose to live. In a post-Roe world, that self-sorting process would grow even more intense: in roughly half the country, abortion would be all but illegal, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a reproductive-rights think tank. Medical residents in those states would likely have to go elsewhere to learn about abortions, just as patients would have to travel to get the procedure. In the other half of the country, demand for abortions would almost certainly shoot up, putting pressure on physicians, hospitals, and clinics to serve patients from out of state. For all doctors and trainees, no matter their views, this geographic divide could pose dilemmas—even for anti-abortion students who would presumably welcome the reversal of Roe. (Read More)