As abortion rights and provision continue to dominate legal attacks in courts, becoming a fervent question for campaigners in upcoming 2020 political debates, and advocacy increases given the obliteration of rights on the state level, physicians, please remember a few things:
Midwives, advanced practice clinicians (APCs), nurses, residents, students, counselors, support staff and advocates are critical to abortion provision. There are many places where the clinic cannot open if the nurse is not present, even if the physician or provider is.
When it comes to the actual handing-over of abortion pills & the most common abortion procedures like aspiration, physicians & advanced practice clinicians (APCs), including midwives, are skilled providers and nationwide are very active providers in the abortion community.
When it comes to abortion advocacy, including attending conferences, writing Op-Eds, serving on Boards like @NursesforSRH and @MWAccessProject and broad contribution to the abortion movement, APCs, midwives and nurses and students of these professions are at the forefront.
The 2018 @theNASEM report on “Safety and Quality of Abortion Care in the United States” states that appropriately trained certified nurse-midwives and nurse practitioners have the skills and experience necessary to provide abortion medications and perform most abortion procedures
Physicians are not alone in their abortion work: advanced practice clinicians, midwives, and nurses are there, too. And how lovely and empowering for that to be true: we are a huge community of abortion providers, working together in the clinics and in this movement.
So, physician colleagues, I implore of you: when you talk about “who should be in the decision-making room when it comes to abortion provision,” instead of saying “doctor” or “physician,” say “doctor or advanced practice clinician” or “provider” or “clinician.”
So, physician colleagues, I implore is you: when you talk about who are the experts in abortion when combatting political speech, say “doctors and APCs and nurses” or “all providers trained and skilled in abortion care.”
Routinely referencing the broader community of providers in abortion care, and including advanced practice clinicians, midwives, and nurses in the same breath as “physician” or “doctor,” it demonstrates just how many of us there are, that we are a strong network in our movement.
Mentioning all abortion provider types, physicians and advanced practice clinicians including midwives, is not only true when it comes to talking about abortion work, but it is also ESSENTIAL for students of those professions to hear the opportunity for this in their future work.
Mentioning all abortion provider types, physicians and advanced practice clinicians including midwives, is not only true when it comes to talking about abortion work, but also upholds the recent @theNASEM report call to decrease barriers by increasing skilled providers.
Mentioning all abortion provider types, physicians and advanced practice clinicians including midwives, acknowledges your own colleagues and uplifts the work we do every day that is unseen when only saying “Doctor” in response to abortion questions publicly and on social media.
When I’m talking about abortion, as an APC and midwife, which I do often with intention and passion and evidence @FeministMidwife and as Board Chair @NursesforSRH and as a Board member of @MWAccessProject and as an active member of @NatAbortionFed and @ACNMmidwives I mention you.
When I talk about #abortion, I say physicians AND #advancedpracticeclinicians AND #midwives AND #nurses. And it sounds strong. It sounds like there are a lot of us. It sounds like we are an empowered and collaborative community. AND WE ARE. So physicians: talk about all of us 📡
@breesus319
