Intended for healthcare professionals

News

Abortion is over-regulated in US, study says

BMJ 2018; 360 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.k1282 (Published 19 March 2018) Cite this as: BMJ 2018;360:k1282
  1. Janice Hopkins Tanne
  1. New York

Abortion is safe but too regulated in the US, sometimes to the detriment of patient care, says a report from the National Academies of Sciences.1

“Overall, the committee concludes that the quality of abortion care depends to a great extent on where women live,” because of restrictions in some states, the report said. The expert committee reviewed trends in abortion between 1973, when the Supreme Court legalised it, and 2016.

“Legal abortions are safe and effective. Safety and quality are optimized when the abortion is performed as early in pregnancy as possible,” the report said. But state requirements may delay the …

View Full Text

Log in

Log in through your institution

Subscribe

* For online subscription