Jenny Nelson Carney Quoted in “Almost Half of Nation’s OB-GYN Residents Train in States Poised to Ban Abortion”

The Supreme Court ruling overturning the federal right to abortion is likely to curtail the ability to train doctors in comprehensive reproductive healthcare, physicians said Friday. …

Access to abortion training is required in residency programs in order to maintain accreditation, according to the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education. Residents may choose to opt out of such training due to religious or moral objections.

Of the about 6,000 obstetrics and gynecology residents across the country, about 2,600 are located in one of 26 states that are certain or likely to ban abortions, according to an April study by researchers at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and University of California, San Francisco.

Researchers concluded that the rollback of Roe v. Wade will leave “nearly one half of U.S. obstetrics and gynecology residents without access to this fundamental facet of reproductive care, thus affecting care for future patients.” …

The Supreme Court ruling raises questions about how training programs can continue to teach abortions in states that enact near or total abortion bans, like in Missouri and Ohio. The Ryan Program helps residency programs across the country integrate abortion care into their teachings with more than 100 Ryan Programs in the U.S., according to the group’s website.

Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, which is part of the Ryan Program, said it is working to assess how Friday’s decision will affect training programs, according to a statement provided to Healthcare Dive.

Similarly, leaders at Cleveland Clinic in Ohio are still reviewing the decision and how it will impact patients and providers there.

The end of Roe will pose a significant challenge for medical education programs, Jennifer Nelson Carney, a lawyer at the firm Epstein, Becker & Green, who advises hospitals and health systems, told Healthcare Dive.

“Potentially, all abortion-related training may be available in only a limited number of states, which puts strain on those states and providers — in addition to the costs and hassle of moving residents around the country.”