Anti-abortion laws not to blame for OB-GYN shortages: Study
Anti-abortion laws are likely not the cause of a decline in the number of obstetricians and gynecologists or the number of labor and delivery wards in the United States, according to a new study published by the Charlotte Lozier Institute that instead pins the blame on a lack of training opportunities and declining birth rates.
The finding stands in contrast with predictions from abortion-rights advocates that the 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization ruling, which found that there is no federal right to abortion, would lead to a dearth of OB-GYN medical students in states with limits on abortion and the closure of medical centers able to provide OB-GYN care.
Democrats running in the 2024 elections have highlighted abortion bans in 24 states as the reason women lack access to OB-GYN care, even in emergency situations such as miscarriage or ectopic pregnancy.
But a new study published recently from the CLI, the think tank arm of the anti-abortion advocacy group SBA Pro-Life America, notes that structural problems with medical education have contributed to this problem for more than the past two years since Dobbs.
