What the fight over a new Supreme Court justice may mean for women's healthcare

With Justice Anthony Kennedy's impending retirement, some physicians and healthcare experts are worried what may happen to substantial health laws like Roe v. Wade and how the repeal or overturning of such laws would affect Americans, particularly women.

Salon's Amanda Marcotte wrote in a recent report that President Donald Trump's ability to appoint one, if not two, Supreme Court justices during his tenure may have a significant effect on women's health rights. According to Ms. Marcotte, "it appears nearly inevitable" that the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, which affirmed the legality of a woman's right to have an abortion under the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, will either be overturned completely or modified in a way allowing states to "regulate legal abortion out of existence," the report states.

If the decision is overturned, 23 states will be at high risk of banning abortion, while 19 states will be at low risk. It is unclear how eight states and Washington, D.C., would act in regard to keeping abortion legal, according to a website created by the global legal advocacy organization Center for Reproductive Rights detailing how each state and Washington would fare if the law is overturned.

However, Ms. Marcotte noted the decision will affect women across the country, with more women crossing state lines to legally undergo the procedure. To accommodate the potential surge in patients, states may need to increase the number of policies making it easier for abortion providers to meet the increased demand. For example, California passed a law in 2013 allowing nurse practitioners, certified nurse-midwives and physicians' assistants to be trained as abortion providers. Another possibility may be for the FDA to allow pharmacies to directly sell abortion medication to patients, as they are currently prohibited from doing so.

"As an older physician, I was in training while abortions were outlawed. Roe v. Wade had not yet been decided. Quite a number of women sought to have abortions by whichever means were available. Many were preformed [sic] by 'back-alley' [practitioners], often with disastrous results. I personally tried to care for two women who appeared in extremis at Pennsylvania hospitals where I was in training. Both had suffered from a perforated uterus and peritonitis, and died within hours of arrival. They both had children at home who then became motherless," Walter Gamble, MD, a physician from Maine, wrote in an letter to The Boston Globe July 2.

"Should Roe v. Wade be overturned with the appointment of a very conservative judge, I believe we would then see a large number of women die from back-alley abortions, similar to what we witnessed years ago. Just think of that," he continued.

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