May 3, 2022
The American College of Nurse-Midwives (ACNM) is deeply troubled by the recent news that reports a leaked U.S. Supreme Court majority opinion provisionally overturning the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that has protected a person’s liberty to choose to have an abortion for nearly 50 years.
In the United States, 45% of all pregnancies are unintended, and 42% of these unintended pregnancies end in abortion. By the age of 45, 1 in 4 women will have obtained at least one abortion. These statistics highlight the fact that access to abortion is a key component of comprehensive reproductive healthcare. The ability to choose if, when, and how to give birth is linked to a person’s economic success, educational attainment, and general health and well-being.
“People of reproductive age are already struggling with a disparate maternal healthcare system that has historically valued profits over people and has had an adverse effect on maternal mortality and morbidity which has disproportionally impacted Black, Indigenous, Latinx, and Asian people,” stated ACNM President, Cathy Collins-Fulea, DNP, CNM, FACNM. “Abortion care is an essential element of reproductive health care in accordance with the ACNM view that ‘everyone has the right to make reproductive health choices that meet their individual needs.’ Restrictions and threats to abortion access are contributing to the maternal mortality crisis we are experiencing in this country. The Supreme Court’s alleged reversal of protections under Roe v. Wade is slated to further exacerbate an already tenuous maternal healthcare system.”
ACNM affirms that everyone has the right to decide what is best for their health, bodies, lives, and families. As such, we adamantly oppose all legal opinions and legislative policy that blatantly or surreptitiously seek to restrict or ban the provision of abortion care, as well as any efforts to render it less accessible. ACNM will continue to support efforts to increase access to midwives as abortion providers and engage with stakeholders to make abortion care accessible to the people and communities midwives serve.
American College of Nurse-Midwives
409 12th St SW, Suite 600, Washington, DC 20024-2188
Phone: 240.485.1800
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