WEBVTT

1
00:00:00.060 --> 00:00:00.930
- You might rightly think

2
00:00:00.930 --> 00:00:03.060
that your OB-GYN provides abortions

3
00:00:03.060 --> 00:00:05.880
but in reality, only 24% of them do.

4
00:00:05.880 --> 00:00:08.610
That's despite 72% of OB-GYN saying

5
00:00:08.610 --> 00:00:10.500
they've had patients seeking an abortion.

6
00:00:10.500 --> 00:00:11.333
So why is that?

7
00:00:11.333 --> 00:00:12.780
Why do the majority of doctors

8
00:00:12.780 --> 00:00:14.520
specializing in reproductive healthcare

9
00:00:14.520 --> 00:00:16.800
not provide a service that's so in-demand?

10
00:00:16.800 --> 00:00:17.940
There's a couple of reasons.

11
00:00:17.940 --> 00:00:20.400
There's rules their employers
might put on their practice

12
00:00:20.400 --> 00:00:21.840
that make it either impractical

13
00:00:21.840 --> 00:00:23.820
or impossible to provide abortions.

14
00:00:23.820 --> 00:00:25.560
Medical residents might not be trained

15
00:00:25.560 --> 00:00:27.600
to perform abortions in med school.

16
00:00:27.600 --> 00:00:30.180
Only about half of medical
programs have abortion care

17
00:00:30.180 --> 00:00:31.200
in their curriculum.

18
00:00:31.200 --> 00:00:34.020
There's also religious and
moral beliefs of the providers.

19
00:00:34.020 --> 00:00:35.760
But frankly, if you don't plan to provide

20
00:00:35.760 --> 00:00:37.260
full spectrum pregnancy care,

21
00:00:37.260 --> 00:00:38.760
shouldn't become an OB-GYN.

22
00:00:38.760 --> 00:00:41.460
Providing abortion care is
also historically dangerous.

23
00:00:41.460 --> 00:00:42.990
Abortion providers have been murdered

24
00:00:42.990 --> 00:00:45.780
and are often harassed both
at home and outside of work.

25
00:00:45.780 --> 00:00:48.210
So why do freestanding
abortion clinics exist?

26
00:00:48.210 --> 00:00:51.060
Well after the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision,

27
00:00:51.060 --> 00:00:53.880
most doctors were men and
many were ambivalent at best

28
00:00:53.880 --> 00:00:55.890
about women directing
their own medical treatment

29
00:00:55.890 --> 00:00:58.380
and later came medically
unnecessary state restrictions

30
00:00:58.380 --> 00:01:00.300
that dictated things
like the size of the room

31
00:01:00.300 --> 00:01:03.000
where abortions are performed
or the width of hallways.

32
00:01:03.000 --> 00:01:05.190
Many doctor's offices don't
wanna deal with all that

33
00:01:05.190 --> 00:01:06.300
plus it's expensive.

34
00:01:06.300 --> 00:01:10.200
So now 95% of abortions in
the U.S. happen in clinics.

35
00:01:10.200 --> 00:01:12.150
But what about abortion
pills? You might ask?

36
00:01:12.150 --> 00:01:15.240
Surely those are very easy
to provide in OB-GYNs office.

37
00:01:15.240 --> 00:01:17.340
While it was only in December, 2021

38
00:01:17.340 --> 00:01:18.690
that the Biden administration said

39
00:01:18.690 --> 00:01:21.510
providers could mail abortion
pills to patients permanently

40
00:01:21.510 --> 00:01:23.700
and a bunch of restrictions still remain.

41
00:01:23.700 --> 00:01:26.790
More OB-GYNs say they'd be
willing to prescribe the pills

42
00:01:26.790 --> 00:01:28.105
if there was less red tape.

43
00:01:28.105 --> 00:01:29.945
(bright music)