I really hate to say, “I told you so.”
Legislators are trying to ban Med-school students from learning how to evacuate the uterus.
I really hate to say, “I told you so.”
In October 2023, I wrote about the efforts of anti-abortion group Students for Life of America (SFLA) to attack medical school training as part of their plan to completely abolish all abortions. SFLA wants to make sure “that no abortions or abortion training happen at all.” [1] Students for Life of America's Lead Operations Supervisor & Medical/Law Coordinator, Gavin Oxley, also wrote an op-ed at Real Clear Policy arguing the same. [2] Oxley also founded Future Medical Professionals for Life to “push back against Med School’s efforts to teach its students how to perform abortions.” [3]
I warned that SFLA’s attacks on medical training portend what we could expect to see in the future from the anti-abortion movement. I wrote: “Expect to see efforts to chip away at institutional autonomy and authority,” and I specifically emphasized that, in states with bans, “we may see efforts to impede programs from coordinating out of state training for their students… [and] efforts to change curriculum.”
In Missouri, the Republican-dominated House is advancing a bill to ban abortion training from medical school curriculum in the state and to ban medical schools in Missouri from establishing partnerships with out-of-state medical schools that teach medical students how to perform abortions.
HB 2621 states:
No public or private medical school in this state shall:
(1) Provide medical students, residents, or fellows with any abortion-specific training; or
(2) Partner with any public or private medical school, clinic, or other facility in another state to provide abortion-specific training.
The bill defines abortion-specific training as “instruction or education on any method, type, or performance of a procedure that is conducted for the purpose of intentional termination of a pregnancy.”
According to the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Justin Sparks, institutions will be financially penalized for violations. “If a university or research institution is going to be involved in that practice, then there will be essentially a financial penalty on the endowment of such institution,” Sparks said. [4]
The bill includes a supposed exception for “instruction or education of such a procedure performed exclusively in cases of medical emergency,” but the bill contains no information about how this exemption would be invoked or practically exercised. After all, the ability to terminate a pregnancy in a medical emergency requires one to have received the necessary abortion-specific training which the bill flatly bans.
The ability to empty the uterus is a vital skill in the field of obstetrics. [5] As Dr. John Combes of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education has explained, "abortion, or evacuating the uterus, is a core procedure for OB-GYN. It’s also used for management of miscarriages and complications of pregnancy like infection and bleeding… So it’s a technique that has to be learned.” [6] “The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) requires OB/GYN residency programs to provide access to abortion training. Residents with moral or religious objections are allowed to opt out. It’s a key component of an OB/GYN’s training, even for doctors who have no plans of becoming abortion providers.” [7] There have already been serious concerns raised about a future in which doctors with insufficient education in this area are entrusted with patient care. [8]
Yet, according to Rep. Sparks, training in evacuating the uterus is not needed. In an interview, Sparks reasoned:
“OBGYN programs across the country already provide this training and provide it to an extreme level of proficiency, meaning, there is no need for an abortion fellowship for us to have our perspective doctors or doctors in training to go and perform elective abortion and terminating human life.” [9]
So, because other doctors in other states know how to evacuate the uterus, doctors in Missouri don't need to know how to do so? Huh? Sparks’s suggestion would be comical if it weren't so dangerous.
“HB 2621 is the most recent attempt by Missouri lawmakers to go after abortion health care in the state.” [10] Some conservative Missouri senators have gone so far as to advocate “for bills that would allow homicide charges to be brought against women who obtain abortions.” [11] “As right-wing legislators intensify efforts to diminish reproductive rights in the state, Missouri is grappling with a maternal and infant mortality crisis. Despite 75 percent of maternal deaths being preventable, Missouri still struggles with a high rate of maternal mortality. Moreover, between 2021 and 2022, Missouri was one of only four states in the nation to experience a significant increase in infant mortality rates.” [12] Missouri has “grappled with ‘maternity deserts,’ where access to maternity care services [are] scarce” or non-existent. “According to a 2022 March of Dimes study, almost half of the state’s counties lacked hospitals providing obstetric care or OB-GYNs. The state’s strict abortion laws likely worsened this crisis, as OB-GYNs have been leaving conservative states.” [13]
Importantly, “if Missouri outlaws abortion-specific training, doctors may not have the needed information to act in medical emergencies. Additionally, bills like HB 2621 would likely exacerbate the existing maternal mortality crisis in the state and worsen health care deserts.” [14]
The bill is sponsored by Rep. Justin Sparks and co-sponsored by Rep. Justin Hicks. As of this writing, a hearing on this bill has not yet been scheduled. You can track actions on this bill here. You can also contact both sponsors; each sponsor’s contact information, from the website of the Missouri House of Representatives, is pictured below.
Citations:
[1] Wharton, C. (2023, October 17). One reason medical students may bypass OB-GYN specialty & contribute to shortage? opt-out abortion training requirements. Students for Life of America. https://studentsforlife.org/2023/10/17/one-reason-medical-students-may-bypass-ob-gyn-specialty-contribute-to-shortage-opt-out-abortion-training-requirements/
[2] Oxley, G. (2023, October 16). Take pro-abortion pressure off medical students by ending opt-out abortion training requirements. RealClearPolicy. https://www.realclearpolicy.com/articles/2023/10/16/take_pro-abortion_pressure_off_medical_students_by_ending_opt-out_abortion_training_requirements_986389.html
[3] Ruszczynski, A. (2022, March 28). The fight of the century: Pro-life activist Gavin Oxley. The Jefferson Independent. https://jeffersonindependent.com/the-fight-of-the-century-pr0-life-activist-gavin-oxley/
[4] McNeill, Z., Stephen Emlund / iStock / Getty Images Plus, Zane McNeill, Walker, C., Fields &, R., Gallardo, A., Rankin, L., Udesky, L., Karlis, N., Goodman, A., Luthra, S., Tadepalli, S., Davis, D., Conley, J., & Becker &, A. (2024, March 8). Missouri advances bill targeting abortion-specific training in medical schools. Truthout. https://truthout.org/articles/missouri-advances-bill-targeting-abortion-specific-training-in-medical-schools/
[5] McMurray, C. (2023, March 23). Abortion training in Texas is vanishing. The Texas Observer. https://www.texasobserver.org/abortion-training-in-texas-is-vanishing/
[6] Hoffman, J. (2022, October 27). OB-GYN residency programs face tough choice on abortion training. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/27/health/abortion-training-residency-programs.html
[7] Hutchinson, S. (2023, October 13). Abortion bans complicate medical training, risk worsening OB/GYN ... https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2023/10/13/obgyn-training-abortion-restrictions/
[8] Ibid. 7
[9] Morabith, A. (2024, March 7). Missouri Republican wants abortion-specific university training outlawed. Missourinet. https://www.missourinet.com/2024/03/07/missouri-republican-wants-abortion-specific-university-training-outlawed/
[10] McNeill, Z., Stephen Emlund / iStock / Getty Images Plus, Zane McNeill, Walker, C., Fields &, R., Gallardo, A., Rankin, L., Udesky, L., Karlis, N., Goodman, A., Luthra, S., Tadepalli, S., Davis, D., Conley, J., & Becker &, A. (2024, March 8). Missouri advances bill targeting abortion-specific training in medical schools. Truthout. https://truthout.org/articles/missouri-advances-bill-targeting-abortion-specific-training-in-medical-schools/
[11] Ibid. 10
[12] Ibid. 10
[13] Ibid. 10
[14] Ibid. 10
The only way to stop such nonsense as this is to completely close ALL the medical schools down in MO and refuse to offer ANY medical school education to anyone. If they’re going to play hardball then the hospitals can also play that game. The “Show Me” state can be shown. The only way to fix things sometimes is to be the bigger asshole.