Nearly a year ago, the US Supreme Court ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women\’s Health Organization has eliminated the constitutional right to abortion after nearly 50 years. Our patients in Maryland experienced uncertainty and concern after the ruling as other states began enacting a myriad of abortion restrictions. Meanwhile, reproductive health care providers were quick to establish a referral network to help patients get treatment in states where abortion remained legal.
As Maryland physicians and advocates for the health of our patients, we are focused on maintaining access to a proven, essential standard of care. While the evolving legal landscape can be confusing, we want our patients to understand: Maryland remains a state where abortion is safe and legal.
Because Maryland is protective of this primary health care, we have seen an influx of patients from other states seeking abortion care here. A Florida patient discovered during a routine ultrasound at 21 weeks of pregnancy that her fetus had a severe skeletal disorder. She was referred to our hospital because we could offer her autonomy to choose from the full range of management options, including abortion.
The patient had to save money for child care, fly from Florida to Maryland, and find accommodations in Baltimore, all while processing a devastating diagnosis. We are privileged to have been able to honor his decision as to what was best for his health and his family. However, we know there are many people like her who will never be able to receive treatment because they lack the support and resources to travel outside their restrictive states.
In addition to the multitude of restrictive state laws, abortion care has recently been threatened by multiple lawsuits aimed at eliminating the availability of a safe and effective abortion drug, mifepristone. Medicated abortion is the most common abortion method in the United States and is preferred by many. Mifepristone has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration for more than 20 years and carries very few risks.
A patient recently requested a medical abortion with us. She was nine weeks pregnant, confused by the ongoing mifepristone lawsuits and unsure if she could still get a medical abortion. We assured her that mifepristone medical abortion is still legally available in Maryland and subsequently provided her with the care she needed.
When we gave her this assurance, the Supreme Court decided to preserve access to mifepristone. Fortunately, even before this decision, Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown issued a statement confirming full protection for mifepristone access in Maryland, emphasizing the priority of medical abortion access for Marylanders.
Physicians alone cannot protect access to abortion; we depend heavily on our lawmakers to pass important laws that ensure access to abortion continues. Maryland lawmakers recently passed several measures to protect essential reproductive health care. Last year, the abortion The Care Access Act was passed, which allows nurses, midwives and physician assistants to provide abortion care and requires public medical aid programs and many private insurance plans to cover abortion care services.
Additional bills have been passed to ensure the privacy of health care professionals and patients and the right to provide and receive reproductive health care without fear of legal recourse. This includes a protection bill that protects abortion providers from out-of-state criminal charges and lawsuits, and a bill that requires higher education institutions to provide 24/7 access to contraceptives. over the counter, including Plan B.
In addition, Governor Wes Moore has released $3.5 million to develop training programs for additional abortion care providers to expand abortion access across our state. Next year, Marylanders will also have the opportunity to vote in a general election to enshrine legal protections for abortion in the state constitution. While we cannot fully predict what legal battles await us, we believe Maryland will be ready to provide its citizens with the reproductive health care we all deserve.
Sorting through misinformation and keeping track of frequent changes in national and state abortion laws can be overwhelming, but we want to emphasize that patients should continue to communicate and clarify any questions with their health care providers. Maryland citizens can rest assured that abortion is legal in our state and that ensuring access remains a priority for many of our legislators. Abortion is an essential health service that can be accomplished safely and effectively with medication or a procedure. Thankfully, many health care providers and legislators across the state are working tirelessly to provide and expand abortion care and stay ahead of the challenges yet to come.
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Dr. Rachel Jensen, Jessica K. Lee and Diana Carvajal are physicians at the University of Maryland Medical Center.
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