Abortion is legal. That's right. Legal. No matter how angry that may make some people. Legal. So why are 23% of OBGYN rotations for third year medical students specifically leaving abortion out? Let me say that again. As third year medical students participate in rotations, learning the basics of every specialty, they do not necessarily learn anything about abortion during their OBGYN rotation. 23% do not mention it at all. 45% provide a clinical experience with very little participation. Only 32% specifically offer a lecture on it.
Today, we have a group called Medical Students for Choice. Their mission statement?
Medical Students for Choice® stands up in the face of violent opposition, working to destigmatize abortion provision among medical students and residents, and to persuade medical schools and residency programs to include abortion as a part of the reproductive health services curriculum.
This group does not set out to persuade future doctors to be OBGYNs or to provide abortion. They are existant to destigmatize the aura of performing a legal procedure and to ensure that medical schools are providing education on a standard, legal, and common procedure. Their mission statement asks for simple equality and standard rights under our law. Sad.
As a new DC resident, I was researching PCPs the other day, looking for a new doctor. I was looking at GW and Georgetown among others, assuming that as large, reputable hospitals their PCPs must be good. And then I found out that Georgetown, a Catholic university, does not teach abortion. If a student wants to learn they must go out of their way to schedule an OBGYN rotation at another hospital in the city in order to get that chance. What other medical procedures are so ostracized? How often do you see a medical school telling a student they must go to another hospital if they want to learn how to perform an appendectomy? .2% of people in the US get an appendectomy annually. 2% of women in the US get an abortion annually. A tenfold difference. Which one is more critical to teach?
Let me remind you, abortion is legal. I am not asking you to agree with my political beliefs; I am asking you to recognize that abortion is legal under US law and whether you agree or not, you are bound by it. The Supreme Court spoke 36 years ago. So why are we not teaching a legal procedure to our doctors? It is a part of medicine. Are we so haughty as to believe that we can tell medical schools what to teach or not teach even when it differs from the law? Why follow the law at all, then?
No one claims abortion is an easy choice. No one is pro-abortion. I am sure it is an incredibly hard, painful, emotional decision. So why are we making it any harder? Why are we failing to teach our doctors? What happens when a patient needs their help and they are unable to provide it? Isn't being a doctor about providing care? Not turning a patient away?
Georgetown Medical is sadly not alone. But it is here, by my home, and it stands resolute as a prestigious school. And I will boycott it. I will not go to Georgetown for any medical care. I will not see a doctor who works for Georgetown, even outside of the hospital. I will not be treated by a doctor who studied at Georgetown.
Join me in my boycott. Take a look around and ask exactly what our medical schools are doing. Whether you agree with abortion or not, 22% of all pregnancies end in it. Do you really want to deny these women a legal procedure? Or even if you wish you could, do you really believe that is right?
Having trouble with your tonsils? Sorry, we don't perform tonsillectomies here. I can't because I never learned how to in medical school. Oops! Try going to Kansas.
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