The Quickie: OB/GYNs Overwhelming Say Dobbs Worsened Care

Welcome to “The Quickie” — Planned Parenthood Action Fund’s daily tipsheet on the top health care & reproductive rights stories of the day. You can read “The Quickie'' online here.

In today’s Quickie: OB/GYNs agree Dobbs worsened care, PPMT’s Dr. Dickman reflects on being a provider post-Roe, and FL’s “Don’t Say Period” bill is even worse than you thought. 

OB/GYNS OVERWHELMING SAY DOBBS WORSENED CARE: This week, Kaiser Family Foundation released a new national survey of OB/GYNs and their views on the impact of the Dobbs decision on health care outcomes for patients. Notably, a whopping 68% said Dobbs worsened their ability to manage pregnancy-related emergencies, 64% said Dobbs worsened pregnancy-related mortality, and 70% said the decision worsened racial and ethnic inequities in maternal health.

OB/GYNs in states with abortion bans have struggled significantly in the last year: six in ten say that their decision-making autonomy has worsened and 55% report their ability to practice within the standard of care has become worse. 61% worry about the legal risk of providing care. Half of OB/GYNs in states with bans report having a patient who was unable to get an abortion they sought. 

Read the full survey results at KFF. Read more at CNN and The 19th*. 

“THERE’S A REAL HUMAN COST”: This morning, Dr. Samuel Dickman, Chief Medical Officer of Planned Parenthood of Montana, penned an op-ed for CNN, detailing his experiences providing care in Texas after the passage of S.B. 8 and his current role in Montana —a critical access state in the region that sees hundreds of out-of-state patients. Dr. Dickman said of his experience practicing in Texas after their total abortion ban went into effect: 

“After SB 8 took effect, the joy I felt practicing medicine — a career I had spent years training for — started to drain away. Before that, I felt lucky; every day I got to see firsthand the positive impact my colleagues and I had in our patients’ lives, simply because we were there to help them end a pregnancy safely… And as I tried to settle into a new post-SB 8 routine, the job satisfaction I previously felt was replaced with what psychologists call “moral distress” — the despair that comes from being prevented from providing my patients with the kind of medical care that they sought.”

Dr. Dickman reflected on the task of providers in states where abortion remains accessible: 

“In Montana, where I moved with my family last year, my patients may often have to travel hundreds of miles for care, but at least I’m able to help them get abortions. Montanans value personal liberty, and the state constitution protects the right to individual privacy and patients’ ability to make decisions with their health care providers without government interference — a bulwark against politicians’ continued attempts to restrict abortion access… As providers, we will continue to do everything possible to make sure patients can get the care that they need — but it will take all of us to address this public health crisis and restore, protect and expand abortion access for future generations.”

Read the full op-ed at CNN. 

FLORIDA’S “DON’T SAY PERIOD” BILL IS EVEN WORSE THAN IT SOUNDS: Yesterday, in a piece in Fast Company, reproductive rights and LGBTQ+ activists sounded the alarm on Florida’s House Bill 1069 (H.B. 1069), also known as the “Don’t Say Period” bill, which is slated to take effect on July 1. While it’s most commonly known for prohibiting any discussion of “reproductive health” for students up to eighth grade — including discussions of periods and puberty for students likely already going through puberty — H.B. 1069 has many more harmful provisions for young Floridians. 

In addition to gutting comprehensive sex education, the law also prohibits teachers from acknowledging gender as a social construct and mandates that school officials only acknowledge the pronouns of cisgender students. When sex education is allowed at schools, teachings must only feature heterosexual relationships and promote abstinence as the only method of preventing STIs and pregnancy. H.B. 1069 also expands upon existing book bans in Florida, allowing books to be immediately pulled from school due to a parent complaint, rather than first undergoing a review process. 

“Besides the blatant transphobia and motions to restrict education, we want to call out another dangerous aspect of Florida HB 1069: passing this bill sets a precedent and thereby normalizes similar legislation,” the activists write. “Let’s make this clear: There is nothing normal about politicians who are meant to protect and serve all of their constituents creating policies that will cause lifelong and potentially life-ending harm to individuals and entire communities… This bill contributes to the transphobic, patriarchal, and power-hungry onslaught of legislative attacks in our country, and is particularly dangerous due to its numerous hidden stipulations that will establish groundwork for the rest of the country’s lawmakers.”

Read more at Fast Company.