Medicine at a Crossroads: What the End of Roe Means for Patients and Providers

Abstract

Abstract The Supreme Court’s undoing of almost 50 years of precedent asserting a constitutional guarantee of abortion rights is a tectonic shift in American reproductive health. In this commentary we examine some of the likely consequences of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization for three groups within American medicine: patients, practicing physicians, and physicians-in-training. Using these consequences as a backdrop, we explain not only what questions confront each group, but what the moment calls them to do in the face of attacks on their bodily autonomy (patients), ability to practice (physicians), and decisions where to train and practice (medical students).