4 years post Roe v Wade

​Four years ago today, the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.


For many, it was a political victory.


For those of us in women's healthcare, it marked one of the most significant setbacks to reproductive medicine and women's rights in modern American history.


The consequences have been real.


Women experiencing miscarriages, ectopic pregnancies, and other pregnancy emergencies have faced dangerous delays in care. Physicians have been forced to consult attorneys before treating critically ill patients. Hospitals have rewritten protocols around legal risk instead of medical urgency. Some OB-GYN residency programs have struggled to provide comprehensive training, and many physicians have chosen to leave or avoid states where practicing evidence-based medicine could put their careers—or even their liberty—at risk.


Here in California, we remain fortunate. Our state continues to protect reproductive healthcare and allows physicians to practice according to evidence-based medicine rather than political mandates. My patients are largely shielded from the devastating barriers many women now face.


But healthcare should not depend on your ZIP code.


A woman's access to timely, lifesaving medical care should never be determined by which side of a state border she happens to live on. Rights, safety, and dignity should not disappear when you cross a state line.


I find it deeply troubling that this debate has become uniquely American. In virtually every other Western democracy, disagreements over abortion exist, but physicians are not forced to choose between providing medically appropriate care and risking criminal prosecution. Women are not left wondering whether they will receive emergency treatment because their doctor first needs legal advice.


The damage extends far beyond abortion. It has affected emergency obstetric care, prenatal medicine, physician recruitment, medical education, and the trust women place in our healthcare system. It has created fear where there should be confidence, and hesitation where there should be decisive medical action.


As physicians, our duty is to our patients—not to politicians. Medicine works best when decisions are made in the exam room, guided by science, compassion, and the individual needs of the woman before us.


Four years later, the effects continue to ripple through hospitals, clinics, and families across America.


Women's rights are human rights. Women's healthcare is healthcare. We owe our patients better.


www.ruthhaskinsmd.com


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