Researchers find that hospitals vary on abortion management
ASCENT Center for Reproductive Health conducted brief phone calls with staff at Utah hospitals
A new report indicates that hospital staff are not prepared to discuss what abortion services they provide in most cases.
Researchers at the ASCENT Center for Reproductive Health conducted brief phone calls with staff at Utah hospitals that might provide pregnancy-related care (as determined by having a labor and delivery or emergency department listed on their website). Each conversation loosely followed a call script, which included three vignettes of hypothetical patients experiencing obstetric urgencies or emergencies.
They found significant variability in hospital staff’s preparedness to discuss treatment options for certain pregnancy-related urgencies and emergencies.
“Our findings of this quality improvement project point to the uncertainties and
difficulties hospitals may face in providing pregnancy-related care in an
abortion-restricted state,” the report concluded.
Much of the study centered on hospitals operating on the concept of “abortion exceptionalism,” which treats abortion as distinct and separate from routine care, incorrectly portrays abortion as unique, different, and riskier than it is, contrary to medical evidence.
“Abortions are proven to be extremely safe so much so that over 75 medical organizations oppose legislative interference in fundamental medical care,’ the researchers said. “Abortion exceptionalism impacts not only how people talk about pregnancy termination--both routine and emergent—but also the type of care individuals are ultimately able to access.”
Researchers asked staff about their hospital's policy on abortion care, which resulted in them discovering:
The most common response to this question was that staff were aware of internal protocols, rather than official policies, regarding medical treatments during pregnancy. For many obstetric emergencies, the protocol was to stabilize the pregnant person and transfer to a larger facility.
Some respondents said their hospital did not have a policy. Other staff members were unsure if a policy existed. Absent a policy (or knowledge of a policy) the staff said most of the decision-making, and navigation of the legal landscape, was up to individual providers.
Some respondents said their hospital did have written policies regarding abortion. In most cases, the staff were unsure where to access it. In other cases, the staff said they could not share the internal policy and suggested we contact the hospital legal team for details.
The rest of the report is here.
