A Statement from The College of Physicians of Philadelphia
When The College of Physicians of Philadelphia was created in 1787, its overarching goal was “to advance the science of medicine and to thereby lessen human misery.” With yesterday’s decision by the Supreme Court of the United States in Dobbs v. Jackson to overturn the 49-year precedent of Roe v. Wade, the College finds itself looking back on social and medical history and dreading what analysis of evidence shows the decision can mean for pregnant individuals, for physicians and other professionals who care for them, and for the health of the public at large.
The Court’s decision, allowing states to effectively ban abortions, gives state legislatures tremendous power over a medical decision that should be made between a patient and her physician, in confidence and without government intervention. The restriction of reproductive rights has significant implications for access to reproductive services, as well as the potential for criminalizing healthcare services that internationally are considered a fundamental right. Allowing states to ban abortions will not ban all abortion, only safe abortions. The evidence is clear that lack of access to safe reproductive care will increase maternal mortality and also affect children and families. Restricting access will disproportionately affect individuals from historically disadvantaged communities and those without financial resources and will unnecessarily increase health disparities.
Our mission to advance the cause of health while upholding the ideals and heritage of medicine includes critically examining the history of medicine, with its successes and its failures. History has shown that limiting access to healthcare results in dangerous alternatives and devastating outcomes, with complications that threaten mental and physical health. Patients and their physicians may now be forced to suffer while leaders who do not learn from history condemn us to repeat it. The future of reproductive healthcare is in jeopardy with the criminalization of medical practice, and we as physicians, healthcare professionals, and public health advocates voice our outrage at the current decision, and our dismay at its impact on future generations.