Strict Abortion Laws Are Likely Already Having An Economic Impact – MedCity News

Being
a
partner
of

HLTH
means
MedCity
News
gets
to
bring
programming
to
the
conference
annually.
So
it
was
this
year
with
our
ENGAGE
at
HLTH
forum
on
Sunday,
where
we
carefully
curated
a
panel
of
experts
who
discussed
three
topics:
cybersecurity,
strict
abortion
measures,
and
where
primary
care
can
truly
thrive
—
in
retail
settings
or
traditional
sites
of
care.

The
panel
that
I
moderated
explored
the
fact
that
strict
abortion
measures
aren’t
just
negatively
impacting
women’s
health.
There’s
a
definite
economic
impact
too,
the
true
effect
of
which
may
as
yet
be
known.

Take
New
Mexico,
for
instance,
said
Dr.
Irene
Agostini,
an
emergency
medicine
physician
at
the
University
of
New
Mexico
and
the
former
chief
medical
officer
of
the
University
of
New
Mexico
Hospital.
New
Mexico
allows
abortion
with
no
gestational
limits.

“What
we’ve
done
is
billboards
and
a
plan
that
we’ve
put
in
Texas
that
actually
recruits
doctors
to
New
Mexico
so
they
can
practice
in
a
state
where
it’s
safe
to
practice.
So
we
are
literally
recruiting
doctors
[through]
big
billboards
on
the
interstate
to
come
to
New
Mexico.”
Dr.
Agostini
said.

The
campaign
is
called

FreeToProvide
and
what
is
Texas’
loss
in
New
Mexico’s
gain.

“New
Mexico
is
a
poor
state,
and
we
need
physicians,
and
so
now
this
becomes
a
political
as
well
as
economic
argument.
Texas
is,
of
course,
very
unhappy
about
that,”
she
explained.

There
are
other
warning
signs
for
states
with
strict
abortion
measures
that
their
legislatures
put
in
place
once
the
Supreme
Court
threw
the
issue
of
abortion
limits
to
states
and
removed
federal
protections
when
it
overturned
Roe.

For
instance,
in
2022-2023
there
was
a
11.7%
decline
in
the
number
of
OBGYN
medical
residency
applications
in
abortion-banned
states
and
a
6.3%
decline
in
the
states
with
gestational
limits
on
abortion.
Compare
that
to
only
a
5.2%
decline
in
all
states
and
a
5.3%
decline
in
states
where
abortion
was
legal,
according
to
a
study
done
by
the
Association
of
American
Medical
Colleges
(AAMC).
Applications
fell
again
by
6.7%
in
2023-2024
in
the
states
with
complete
abortion
bans,
whereas
applications
rose
by
0.6%
in
all
states
and
0.4%
in
states
where
abortion
was
legal
in
the
same
time
period.

Atul
Grover,
executive
director,
Research
&
Action
Institute,
Association
of
American
Medical
Colleges
(AAMC)
pointed
out
that
the
decline
is
not
limited
to
OBGYN
residency
applications
alone.
For
instance,
Texas
in
2020-2021
experienced
a
4.5%
increase
in
senior
residency
applications
compared
to
the
previous
year.
But
in
2022-2023
—
immediately
after
the
state’s
ban
went
into
effect
—
applications
fell
by
5.4%
compared
to
the
previous
cycle.
The
decline
was
steeper
in
2023-2024,
with
an
11.7%
reduction
in
applications
from
2022-2023
cycle.

“Now,
this
data
is
just
a
snapshot
of
all
the,
you
know,
roughly
200
or
so
major
academic
health
systems
that
I
work
with,”
Grover
said
on
the
panel.
“It’s
about
a
three
quarters
of
a
trillion
dollars
in
economic
impact
yearly.
But
the
American
Medical
Association
does
these
periodic
studies
where
they
look
at
the
individual
economic
direct
and
indirect
impact
of
practicing
physicians
on
average,
and
it’s
about
a
$1
million
plus
dollars
a
year
that
each
physician
brings
to
the
community
in
terms
of
direct
economic
impact.
Indirect
impact
may
be
about
twice
as
much.
So
if
you
see
a
shift
of
100
physicians
moving
from
one
state
to
the
other,
if
you
think
about
that
being
$100
or
$200
million
impact
on
state
and
local
economies.”

There’s
also
the
fear
of
the
personal
financial
impact
of
being
sued
and
the
fear
that
their
professions
may
be
jeopardized.

“And
for
many
physicians,
they
didn’t
sign
up
for
that,
and
they
didn’t
sign
up
to
be
lawyers,”
Dr.
Agostini
declared.
“They
didn’t
sign
up
to
go
to
jail
to
practice
medicine.
So
they
can
either
stay
and
be
somewhat
warriors
in
those
states,
which
physicians
are
doing,
or
they
can
say,
‘You
know
what,
I
can’t
do
this.
I’m
going
to
leave,’
which
puts
everybody
at
risk
in
those
states….
That
will
be
a
problem
for
all
people
not
just
[those
in]
reproductive
health
years.
As
we
move
on
through
our
lives,
there
just
will
not
be
[enough]
physicians.”

Beyond
the
economic
impact
and
worsening
shortages
of
physicians
is
the
toll
on
women
and
reproductive
health
in
certain
parts
of
the
country.

“I’m
going
to
keep
bringing
this
up,
but
the
areas
of
the
country
that
have
the
biggest
maternity
deserts
are
also
the
ones
that
are
banning
abortions,”
said
Dr.
Robbie
Harriford,
chief
medical
officer,
Samuel
U.
Rodgers
Health
Center,
a
Federally
Qualified
Health
Center.

Harriford
sits
in
Kansas
City,
Missouri
at
the
border
of
two
states
—
Kansas,
where
abortion
is
legal
due
to
a
ballot
measure
residents
passed
in
2022
and
Missouri,
where
it
is
illegal
with
no
exceptions
for
rape
or
incest.
Missourians
however
will
get
to
weigh
in
on
a
ballot
measure
supporting
the
procedure
in
this
year’s
elections.

Grover
echoed
Harris’
thoughts
about
the
areas
of
the
country
that
have
enacted
strict
abortion
measures
and
therefore
further
worsening
a
physician
shortage.

“Wyoming,
Mississippi,
Idaho,
it’s
not
like
they
have
plenty
of
doctors
there
that
they
can
afford
to
lose,”
he
said.