The majority of abortion procedures in the United States are provided by obstetrician-gynecologists, with a small percentage performed by other providers such as family practice physicians, midwives, or nurse practitioners. There are serious concerns about the provision of abortion procedures in the future for several reasons. Although most obstetrician-gynecologists believe that women should have the right to choose to terminate a pregnancy, at the same time, most do not wish to perform abortions. As a result, approximately 84 percent of counties in the United States do not have an abortion facility, and the number rises to 94 percent outside metropolitan areas.

Many ob-gyn residency training programs do not offer abortion training routinely and as a result, many graduating residents have little or no training in this area. However, over the last decade there has been an increase in the number of residency programs providing training in abortion procedures. In 1996, the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education required ob-gyn residency programs to include family planning and abortion training for its students, though abortion is generally still presented as an elective part of training. The impact of these requirements was demonstrated in a survey conducted by the National Abortion Federation (NAF). The investigators of the NAF report found that from 1992 to 1998, ob-gyn residency programs reporting routine first trimester abortion training increased almost fourfold, from 12 percent to 46 percent, and routine second trimester abortion training from 7 percent to 44 percent (Almeling et al.).

Finally, even where training has taken place, the increasing incidence of harassment and even violence (including the 1993 and 1994 murders of abortion providers in Florida) has resulted in more reluctance on the part of physicians to be involved in the provision of this service. In response to the escalating violence, Congress enacted the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, or FACE, in 1994. This statute established federal criminal penalties and civil remedies for violent, obstructionist, or damaging conduct affecting reproductive healthcare providers and recipients, and supplemented the penalties available under then-existing federal criminal statutes such as the Hobbs Act, the Travel Act, and federal arson and firearms statutes. Rising violence as well as the federal response highlight serious ethical questions as to the social responsibility of professionals in this field to make certain that this procedure is available to all patients.

Source:

Almeling, Rene; Tews, Laureen; and Dudley, Susan. 2000. "Abortion Training in U.S. Obstetrics and Gynecology Residency Programs, 1998." Family Planning Perspectives 32 (6): 268-271.

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