COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Students in obstetrics-gynecology and family medicine — two of the most popular medical residencies — face tough choices about where to advance their training in a landscape where legal access to abortion varies from state to state.
Abortions are typically performed by OB-GYNs or family doctors, and training generally involves observing and assisting in the procedure, often in outpatient clinics. Many doctors and students now worry about nonexistent or subpar training in states where clinics closed or abortion laws were otherwise tightened after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
In some cases, applicants who want to perform abortions as part of their career are pursuing residencies in states with more liberal reproductive laws and perhaps continuing their careers there, too — potentially setting up less permissive states for a shortage of OB-GYNs, observers said.
“To choose a state where I will be limited or I wouldn’t have full access is essentially shortchanging myself and my future patients on the quality of care that I can provide,” said Deborah Fadoju, a fourth-year Ohio State medical student who said she looked at programs along the East Coast, where many states have laws safeguarding abortion.
As an OB-GYN, Fadoju said, she should be able to “do the full breadth of work.”