Partner Greg Care was quoted by The New York Times in an article entitled “OB-GYN Residency Programs Face Tough Choice on Abortion Training,” published October 27, 2022. The piece examines abortion training issues faced by OB-GYN residents since the Dobbs ruling, which Greg explored in a recent blog post.
Specifically, the article outlines how many residency programs for physicians training to become obstetricians and gynecologists across the country are now caught between accreditation requirements and state abortion bans implemented since the Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade.
While federal law prevents health care providers refusing to perform abortions from being discriminated against by such means as losing federal or state funding, the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) has formally reaffirmed its longstanding requirement that OB-GYN residency programs make abortion training available. Should a program lose its accreditation, their residents would be rendered ineligible to receive specialty board certification – greatly impacting the success of the program’s faculty and student recruitment efforts.
As Greg explained to The Times, even if funding for programs that resist offering abortion rotations is guaranteed, the effect of the ACGME’s citation, probation, or denial of accreditation is potent. Medical students won’t apply to a program without accreditation, he said, “And a lot of academic medical centers live and die on residents being cheap labor.”
LEARN MORE ABOUT GREG CARE
For years, Greg has counseled and advocated for students in higher education when preparing for their academic and professional futures. The protection of employees’ and students’ rights remains a priority for him. Greg represents his clients in a diverse array of civil litigation and appeals, including a variety of employment matters, academic discipline disputes and cases to vindicate the rights of persons with disabilities to pursue independent lives. In every case, Greg tailors his approach to each client’s particular situation and goals to achieve the best possible result in the given circumstances – there is no “one-size-fits-all” solution to the unique factors in each case.