Medical Community's Opposition to Abortion Discourages New Abortion Providers

Guttmacher Institute news release: OB-GYN Residents Who Intend to Provide Abortion Services Often Do Not Actually Do So:

Professional Obstacles, Not Fear of Harassment, Primary Barrier to Provision

Opposition to abortion within the health care community—rather than fear of public harassment —is a major factor preventing new physicians from becoming abortion providers, according to “Obstacles to the Integration of Abortion into Obstetrics and Gynecology Practice,” by Lori Freedman et al., of the University of California, San Francisco.

The authors conducted in-depth interviews with 30 obstetrician-gynecologists who had graduated 5–10 years earlier from residency programs that included abortion training. They found that although 18 had planned to offer elective abortions after their residency, only three were actually doing so. The majority reported that they were unable to provide abortions because of the formal and informal policies restricting abortion provision imposed by their private group practices, employers and hospitals. While some of these restrictions had been made explicit when the physicians interviewed for a job, others had become apparent only after the doctors had joined a practice or institution. A few physicians had attempted to moonlight as abortion providers while working in settings that prohibited abortion provision, but found that they were prohibited from offering abortion services outside the practice as well. Respondents indicated that the strain abortion provision might put on their relationships with superiors and coworkers was also a deterrent. . . .