The Texas state legislature has passed laws that are severely restricting access to abortion in the state. A recent study estimates that between 100,000 and 240,000 women in Texas have attempted self-induced abortions as a result of these strict restrictions on abortion provision. The Reproductive Health Access Project (RHAP) medical director, Dr. Linda Prine has…
Linda Prine MD, Natalie Hinchcliffe DO, Shauna Gallagher MD How many times have we heard the refrain: “We don’t need to do abortions in our family medicine practice, we have a XXX (fill in the blank with the name of your local abortion care clinic) in town.”? Too many times. Comments like these reflect…
RHAP is dedicated to making reproductive health care accessible to everyone. Planned Parenthood is an important ally in our work to ensure that clinicians have the highest quality training to provide their patients with the best care possible. We wouldn’t be able to do our work without them. They help train our fellows and many…
I did two abortions this morning (among other procedures) in our neighborhood family health center. The first was a 25-year-old professional woman who came in with her best friend, having been referred from her boutique practice that does IUDs but not abortions. She was pregnant with an IUD in place and had texted me yesterday evening,…
Clinicians who provide abortion care often do not work in the areas where the need is greatest. This work can be difficult, no matter where you live. But it is hardest on those who live in areas where the laws aren’t supportive, where no one speaks about abortion openly, and where abortion is highly stigmatized.…
March 10 is Abortion Provider Appreciation Day. Abortion providers often face misunderstandings about the work they do and the environment they work in. To show our appreciation for abortion providers we are addressing one such abortion myth. At a recent organizational retreat RHAP’s Medical Director, Linda Prine, MD, fielded the following challenging question: “Do primary care clinicians…
Findings from our annual survey of family medicine residents trained in abortion care have just been published in the Journal of Family Medicine. Here are our key findings: Training in abortion in family medicine residency leads to intention to provide. There is a dose-response relationship for training to intention to provide manual vacuum aspiration (MVA) and…
Dr. C. is an abortion provider in Buffalo, NY and a member of our Family Medicine Reproductive Health Network. He has chosen to speak anonymously to protect himself and his family. We recently asked him what moves him to provide abortions and this was his answer. It’s simple. I provide abortions because it is basic…
Linda Prine, RHAP’s medical director, moderates the Access List, a clinical listserv with more than 1,000 subscribers all dedicated to providing abortion care within family medicine and primary care settings. This regular column features Linda’s postings to the Access List. At our recent Reproductive Health Access Project gathering at Society of Teachers of Family Medicine…
As the national organizer for RHAP, I have the privilege of working with some of the most amazing activist physicians in the country. I am constantly reminded of the commitment and perseverance it takes to provide abortion care in so many places. A sterling example of this persistent dedication is Dr. Julie Johnston. I first…