Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Freedom of Conscience, Professional Responsibility, and Access to Abortion

1994; Cambridge University Press; Volume: 22; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1111/j.1748-720x.1994.tb01308.x

1748-720X

Rebecca Dresser,

American Constitutional Law and Politics

The current shortage of US physicians willing to perform induced abortions has created a conflict between women's legal right to access to pregnancy termination and physicians' right to refuse participation in a procedure they regard as morally objectionable. According to a 1993 survey, 84% of US counties (housing 30% of women of reproductive age) had no abortion provider. This situation has been exacerbated by a trend to isolate abortion from other medical procedures; in 1992, only 12% of residency programs in obstetrics and gynecology routinely offered training on first-trimester abortion. Also contributing to physician reluctance to become abortion providers have been the violence, death threats, property damage, and harassment of abortion seekers perpetrated by anti-abortion groups. To ameliorate the abortion access crisis, without intruding on the religious convictions of individual physicians, there must be greater collaboration between professional and community groups. Local community officials and pro-choice supporters are urged to use their influence to protect abortion providers from harassment. Professional organizations should provide both symbolic and practical support, e.g. increased status and remuneration, to physicians who commit to the hardship of abortion provision. Older physicians, most aware of the threat to women's health posed by any erosion of abortion rights, should educate their younger colleagues about the importance of safe abortion. Finally, training on abortion techniques should be integrated into the medical school curriculum and rotations should be established at local abortion clinics.