The Future Of Abortion In America

Is abortion a medical procedure?

Many doctors believe it is, and that it should be treated like any other service provided to patients.

They want it to be available in hospitals and family doctors’ office, and not banished to stand-alone clinics.

The New York Times Magazine cover story this week is about the future of abortion in America, or rather the ideal future of abortion as seen by Ob Gyns and family doctors.

Physicians say that the stand alone clinics, alienated from other medical establishments and often surrounded by vitriolic protesters, puts both patients and doctors off of abortion. There are no abortion providers in 87% of counties in the United States.

With only 5% of abortions occurring in hospitals and 2% in doctor’s offices, doctors have to choose between being having a regular practice and practicing abortion. Many are amenable to the procedure but are worried about the physical and emotional dangers of the high politicised procedure.

But a change is slowly taking place, and doctors are hoping that instead of being seen as a specialized treatment, it will be seen as part of a continuum of women’s health.

The doctors interviewed believe the future of abortion is in family practices. If they are right then women won’t have to battle through protesters to make one of the hardest decisions of their lives — this will be relegated to our past, along with the bloodied hangers we have put behind us.