A new study indicates prenatal care in Louisiana is at risk because many obstetricians are refusing to see patients in their first trimester, when miscarriages are highest, due to the state’s abortion ban for fear of being prosecuted. Lift Louisiana Executive Director Michelle Erenberg said the report was conducted in mid-2023.
“The abortion bans are tying the hands of physicians when they have a patient present to them that is suffering a serious pregnancy complication,” said Erenberg.
The report entitled Criminalized Care: How Louisiana’s Abortion Bans Endanger Patients and Clinicians was a joint study by Lift Louisiana, Physicians for Human Rights, Reproductive Health Impact, and the Center for Reproductive Rights. Thirty healthcare providers and thirteen patients participated in the study.
Erenberg said the report highlights the dire need for clarification of the state’s abortion ban for the treatment of ectopic, nonviable pregnancies, and miscarriages.
“The abortion bans are tying the hands of physicians when they have a patient present to them that is suffering a serious pregnancy complication,” said Erenberg.
Another alarming finding in the report was a physician performing a Cesarean section on a patient versus what before was considered the standard practice of care for a pregnancy complication, so it’s not deemed an abortion.
Erenberg hopes the study will enlighten lawmakers on how the state’s abortion ban is crippling pre-natal and maternal care in Louisiana.
“What we’re hearing from physicians, is they need more certainty, they need more clarity that they can provide that care without the threat of serving a prison sentence for doing so,” said Erenberg.
In Louisiana, a healthcare provider can face up to 15 years in prison and $200,000 in fines for performing an abortion.
To read the study Criminalized Care: How Louisiana’s Abortion Bans Endanger Patients and Clinicians click here.
Requests to speak to Louisiana Right to Life and the Louisiana Department of Health went unanswered.
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