About The Issues -> The Provider Shortage

One of the greatest obstacles to safe abortion today is the absence of trained providers.

Abortion has been legal since 1973 in the United States, and since 1988 in Canada. Unfortunately, access to abortion services in both countries has been severely eroded. It has become increasingly difficult for women in most American states and Canadian provinces to access abortion services. According to a survey conducted in the U.S. in 2000, 87% of counties overall, and 97% of non-metropolitan counties, had no abortion provider (1).

Abortion is truly inaccessible for many women living in regions that lack trained abortion providers. One study estimates that 24% of women having abortions travel 50 miles or more for services (2). The need to travel for abortion services means that, on top of the cost of the abortion, women must bear the cost of travel, housing, childcare, lost work time, and extended stays away from home in states that require mandatory waiting periods. In fact, almost half of the women having abortions beyond 15 weeks of gestation say they were delayed because of problems in affording, finding, or getting to abortion services (12). The current provider shortage threatens women’s reproductive health by leaving many women without a real choice.

Since 1982, the number of abortion providers in the U.S. has fallen by 37% (1). There are many factors that contribute to the provider shortage, including:

• Lack of training - Students are graduating from medical school with little or no abortion education, and only 5% of abortions happen in hospitals, where most medical students and residents are trained (1). As a result, many new doctors are not equipped with the skills they need to provide women with the full spectrum of reproductive health care.
• “Graying of Abortion Providers” - Over half (57%) of all ob/gyns who perform abortion are 50 years of age or older (7). Many of today’s abortion providers are approaching or have reached retirement age, and few doctors have been trained to replace them.
• Commitment - Many of today’s providers are pioneers whose commitment to safe, legal abortion was shaped by having witnessed the effects of botched illegal or self-induced abortions. Younger physicians have not been faced with the spectre of unsafe abortion.
• Fear - Anti-choice tactics of intimidation, harassment and violence have caused doctors and hospitals to shy away from offering abortion services, and have scared students and residents away from pursuing education in abortion training.
  

What MSFC is doing

Medical Students for Choice activists and staff work hard to ensure that medical schools and residency programs in the U.S. and Canada offer students abortion education as well as training opportunities. Our work includes:

• Challenging schools to reform curricula in order to include abortion education.
• Supporting comprehensive reproductive heath training by funding externship opportunities with abortion providers in the U.S. and Canada.
• Launching outreach campaigns to promote the issues and build support for the pro-choice community.
• Presenting pro-choice physicians and abortion providers in seminars and other public events.
• Supporting and honoring abortion providers through volunteer work, recognition programs and other activities.
• Building coalitions with other pro-choice and medical professional organizations.

For more information about our work, please go to What We Do.