Topline
Major medical journals and professional societies — including those for pediatricians and gynecological and obstetric doctors — condemned the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn the nation’s landmark abortion ruling, Roe v. Wade, warning the decision will risk patient safety and increase mortality.
The New England Journal of Medicine condemned the Supreme Court’s ruling to overturn Roe v. Wade and … [+]
Key Facts
In a report released hours after the Supreme Court’s 6-3 ruling Friday, the New England Journal of Medicine said state-level abortion bans will not reduce the number of procedures, but “dramatically reduce” safe procedures, resulting in increased mortality.
The esteemed journal also said “trigger laws” — which are set to ban abortion in 13 states —are based on a “fig-leaf justification” and “disingenuous rhetoric.”
The journal cited data showing that maternal mortality is lower for abortions than for live births — with a mortality rate of approximately .41 of every 100,000 abortion cases compared to compared to 23.8 maternal mortalities in every 100,000 live births, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Center for Health Statistics.
In a statement Friday, the American Academy of Pediatrics said the court’s ruling carries “grave consequences for our adolescent patients” who already face increased barriers to the procedure,” with “evidence-based care” becoming “difficult or impossible to access.”
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists condemned the ruling Friday, saying abortion is a “safe, essential part of comprehensive health care” and “must be available equitably to people, no matter their race, socioeconomic status or where they reside.”
Patients will also face pregnancy-related complications and worsening health conditions, Iffath A. Hoskins, president of the ACOG, said in a statement, arguing the court’s decision is a “direct blow to bodily autonomy, reproductive health, patient safety and health equity in the United States.”
The American Medical Association wrote in a statement Friday it is “deeply disturbed” by the decision, which it called an “egregious allowance of government intrusion into the medical examination room,” while the California Medical Association said it “undermines decades of progress in health care for pregnant people,” adding it is a “direct attack on the practice of medicine.”
Key Background
The Supreme Court’s 6-3 decision Friday paves the way for 13 states – Arkansas, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah and Wyoming – to enact abortion bans that include provisions making the performance of the procedure a felony punishable by prison time. The laws have already gone into effect in Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri and South Dakota. All but one of those bans – Wyoming’s – would make performing an abortion a felony punishable by prison time. Justice Clarence Thomas suggested Friday that the ruling could open the door for the court to reconsider the federal rights provided for birth control and same-sex marriage in future decisions, calling the landmark cases protecting those rights “erroneous.” In response, Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) said Thomas’ comments were “merely the beginning of a radical right-wing effort to roll back other rights, including the right to contraception.”
Further Reading
Roe V. Wade Overturned: Here’s When States Will Start Banning Abortion — And Which Already Have (Forbes)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/brianbushard/2022/06/24/grave-consequences-medical-journals-and-professional-groups-condemn-supreme-court-decision-overturning-roe/