Panel: Abortion Bans Put Patients and Doctors at Risk

When the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, it opened the door to huge disparities in access to abortion across the country, with one-third of the population living in states that have passed abortion restrictions since the decision. The inconsistent legal approaches to abortion are fueling fear and uncertainty for both patients and doctors, a group of experts on reproductive health said during a Duke Global Health Institute event on Sept. 26.

“While many hospitals will pay for [a doctor’s] medical malpractice, many hospitals won’t pay for your legal defense,” said Beverly Gray, M.D., an associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the Duke School of Medicine who sees patients at the Duke Birthing Center.  “Healthcare is better when we’re able to practice.”

Gray, who leads a Duke Health team advocating for patient access to safe abortions, joined experts in discussing legal, medical and personal perspectives on abortion. The event, moderated by DGHI associate professor Megan Huchko, M.D., was part of DGHI’s Think Global series , which explores current issues in global and public health. 

Gerson Smoger, J.D., Ph.D., chair of the board of directors of Physicians for Human Rights, described restrictions in some states as draconian, in some cases criminalizing abortions that doctors believe are medically necessary and requiring women to carry non-viable pregnancies to term. 

 “I argued in a brief this is torture,” said Smoger, who has written legal briefs on several cases challenging abortion restrictions. “How sick does a mom have to be for [doctors] to intervene? Some say it feels like we’re rolling the dice on people’s lives.” 

Wesley Hogan, Ph.D., a research professor at Duke’s Franklin Humanities Institute, and  Duke senior Manasvi Reddy discussed a Bass Connections project that has been building an archive of interviews with patients and providers about their experiences with abortion.    

“These stories patients and providers are sharing can be translated into advocacy to help educate legislators about the laws they’re putting into place,” Gray said. “If people aren’t brave enough to share what’s happening, it doesn’t get talked about. It creates a vacuum that gets filled with fake news and misinformation.”

Watch the full event above or scroll down for highlights. 

Speakers 

Megan Huchko, M.D., (moderator) practices as an OB/GYN generalist and specializes in cervical cancer prevention through her clinical work and global women’s health research. She’s also the director of the Center for Reproductive Health at Duke through DGHI. 

Beverly Gray, M.D., is an associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology who also serves as the division director for Women’s Community and Population Health. Her research interests include contraceptive counseling and medical education.

Wesley Hogan, Ph.D., is a research professor at the Franklin Humanities Institute and History at Duke. She writes and teaches the history of youth social movements, human rights, documentary and oral history. With Gray and fellow Duke Health provider Jonas Swartz, she leads a Reproductive Care Post-Roe Bass Connections team that produces Abortion Care Today audio archive. 

Manasvi Reddy is a senior undergraduate studying public policy on the pre-medical track. Originally from a small town in North Texas with conservative views on abortion access and reproductive health education, she joined the Bass Connections research team, noting her interest in the intersection of medicine and policy as a future physician. 

Gerson H. Smoger is an appellate attorney based in Texas. He has a long commitment to representing human rights issues while specializing as a lawyer in environmental litigation and consumer fraud litigation. Public Justice has named him national Trial Lawyer of the Year.

Highlights

On whether abortion should be seen as a political issue:

“Abortion is healthcare, it’s not political. When someone comes seeking care, we don’t talk about politics. We talk about what they need in that moment. There are political attacks on [this type of] healthcare, which has a ton of evidence to support why we should be providing care without bans.”

Beverly Gray 

“Abortion access saves lives and decreases maternal mortality. Abortion is healthcare, and women should have that right.”

Megan Huchko 

How current abortion bans are affecting patients and providers:

“The impact on doctors is in two major areas: the dual loyalty doctors have to their patients… and at the same time, [states] criminalize them and say your patient isn’t number one, our laws are number one.”

Gerson Smoger

“In 2023, 170,000 people traveled for abortion care in this country. Imagine having to travel for any other procedure you didn’t have money for, your insurance didn’t cover it and you had to travel 10 hours. Many patients who would’ve had care, aren’t able to travel.” 

Beverly Gray 

The importance of sharing abortion stories:

“We have legislators with no medical background passing laws on healthcare. We have physicians who feel uncomfortable and unprotected to practice freely and unsure of how to do this. We have a general population who doesn’t understand the nuances of abortion care and the implications of these restrictions long-term. These gaps create a vicious cycle of ignorance that impacts the social determinants of health.”

Manasvi Reddy

“One of the most important things about oral history is we have a duty to also do no harm. When we collect data, we want to make sure we treat it respectfully and center people who share their stories.”

 Wesley Hogan