Remembering Dr. Tiller

It's been three years since we lost our dear colleague and friend, Dr. George Tiller. He was truly one of our heroes, and today we remember him and the many ways he improved the lives of women.  

This morning, I appeared with NAF member Dr. Willie Parker on Democracy Now! to remember Dr. Tiller and discuss violence and legislative attacks against abortion providers. You can watch the segment here:

   

While we won’t ever be able to replace Dr. Tiller, his memory lives on through the compassion, generosity, and commitment of our members.

Wednesday's Words from Women

With two teenage children and being 40 years old, I was not planning on or ready to start raising another child. I am a nurse and was recently laid off so my finances are limited. After the initial visit, I was a few weeks farther than I originally thought. Without the help and support from NAF, there was absolutely no way I could have come up with the extra money on that short notice. NAF was literally the biggest stress relief in my life during an already difficult time.

--Submitted by Dallas* from a member clinic

This was an unplanned pregnancy and the man involved has not been emotionally or financially supportive of my decision to not continue with this pregnancy. I will be starting graduate school this fall and I have an incredible amount of student loans as well as the loans I will be taking out for this fall. The cost of the abortion would empty out my entire checking account. Thanks to the NAF Hotline, I will be able to continue with my life, and continue with my education. This organization’s support has meant a lot to me, and filled an emotional void that I was lacking from my partner. It is an incredible feeling to know that someone is on your side and fighting for me to succeed in the future. I hope to be able to make donations to NAF. I thank NAF and its member clinic in Ohio for making this an option for so many women.

--Submitted by Sigourney* from a member clinic 

Over one-third of women of reproductive age have an abortion by the age of 45. However, women who have chosen abortion are often absent from the public debate. In order to break the silence surrounding abortion, we feature real stories from real women each Wednesday on our blog. If you would like to share your story with us or have it published on our blog, go to http://www.prochoice.org/pregnant/hotline/share.html.

Waiting for abortion

This weekend, my letter to the editor on Utah's 72-hour waiting period was published in The Salt Lake City Tribune.

Starting this week, Utah now imposes the nation’s longest waiting period on women seeking abortion care.

This misguided legislation requiring a woman to wait 72 hours before she can obtain an abortion is burdensome and medically unnecessary. Utah already requires women to be offered certain information at least 24 hours before they can obtain abortion care.

As a result of this law, a woman may have to delay care, particularly if she has to take time off from work, arrange for child care, travel a long way and perhaps stay overnight in a distant city, as Utah has a limited number of abortion providers.

Further, it disrespects women and their decision making. Women carefully consider the options before they make an appointment and visit a clinic; they do not need to be subjected to a state-mandated waiting period.

The decision to seek abortion care is one that is best made by a woman in consultation with her health care provider. Politicians should not intrude on these private medical decisions.

California Measure Would Have Expanded Abortion Access

Today, my blog on the withdrawal of a California state bill that would have allowed advanced practice clinicians to provide first trimester aspiration abortion care, was posted on RH Reality Check: 

In late February, California Sen. Christine Kehoe (D-San Diego) introduced a bill in the state Senate that would allow nurse practitioners (NPs), physician assistants (PAs), and nurse midwives (CNMs) to provide first trimester aspiration abortion care. Although the bill had support from leading medical groups in the state, and was even co-sponsored by the heads of both legislative houses, Sen. Kehoe withdrew the bill Friday because it lacked enough votes to pass a key legislative committee.

NPs, CNMs, and PAs—collectively referred to as advanced practice clinicians (APCs)— play an increasingly important role in the delivery of a range of health care services in the United States, and are competent  providers of prenatal and postpartum care; family planning services; and gynecological care. In some parts of California—especially rural areas—women may see an APC for the rest of their health care, but are forced to travel outside their communities in order to obtain the abortion care they need. This legislation would have allowed women to obtain safe, early abortion care in their communities, from their current health care providers.

Abortion is well within the scope of practice of APCs and it’s unfortunate that some California Senators missed this point.

We’ve known for years that appropriately trained NPs, CNMs, and PAs have the skills and expertise to provide safe first trimester abortion care and increase women’s access to care. Abortion is one of the safest medical procedures provided in the United States, whether it is provided by a NP, CNM, PA, or physician.

There is a growing body of evidence, including studies published in 1986, 2004, and 2006, which have found comparable rates of safety and efficacy between first trimester abortion procedures provided by CNMs, NPs, and PAs and those provided by physicians. An on-going study from the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) also confirmed that NPs, CNMs, and PAs can be successfully trained to competence in aspiration abortion care, and can provide first trimester abortion care that is clinically as safe as care provided by physicians. The study’s authors testified in support of the bill.

The UCSF study is based on outcomes from a multi-year pilot program that has trained more than 40 NPs, CNMs, and PAs at numerous health centers across the state to provide first trimester abortion care. In an effort to garner support, Sen. Kehoe even narrowed the bill to only allow NPs, CNMs, and PAs who had been trained by this specific program to provide first trimester abortion care. Yet the bill still stalled in committee.

In addition to leading pro-choice and women’s groups in the state, many health care organizations supported this bill, including the California Medical Association, California Academy of Physician Assistants, California Association of Nurse Practitioners, California Nurse Midwives Association, American Nurses Association of California, California Family Health Council, and Health and Women's Health Specialists California.

California has historically supported increasing women’s access to abortion care and it’s extremely disappointing that this bill isn’t moving forward.