Medical Futility

Number 362

(Reaffirmed 2008)

ABSTRACT: The construct of medical futility has been used to justify a physician's unilateral refusal to provide treatment requested or demanded by a patient or the family of a patient. It is importa...

The Limits of Conscientious Refusal in Reproductive Medicine

Number 385

(Reaffirmed 2010)

ABSTRACT: Health care providers occasionally may find that providing indicated, even standard, care would present for them a personal moral problem—a conflict of conscience—particularly in the field ...

Surgery and Patient Choice

Number 395

ABSTRACT: Acknowledgment of the importance of patient autonomy and increased patient access to information has prompted more patient–generated requests for surgical interventions not necessarily reco...

End-of-Life Decision Making

Number 403

ABSTRACT: The purpose of this Committee Opinion is to discuss issues related to end–of–life care, including terms and definitions, ethical principles, legal constructs, physician–patient communicatio...

Abortion Access and Training

Number 424

ABSTRACT: Despite a decrease in abortion rates over the past decade, numerous political, social, and provider barriers limit access to abortion services. Barriers include state restrictions and manda...

Health Care for Undocumented Immigrants

Number 425

ABSTRACT: Undocumented immigrants are less likely than other residents of the United States to have health insurance. Their access to publicly funded health programs has become increasingly limited s...

Misoprostol for Postabortion Care

Number 427

ABSTRACT: The World Health Organization estimates that 67,000 women, mostly in developing countries, die each year from untreated or inadequately treated abortion complications. Postabortion care, a ...

Legal Status: Health Impact for Lesbian Couples

Number 428

ABSTRACT: Women in same-sex relationships encounter barriers to health care that include concerns about confidentiality and disclosure, discriminatory attitudes and treatment, limited access to healt...

Induced Abortion and Breast Cancer Risk

Number 434

(Reaffirmed 2011, Replaces No. 285, August 2003)

ABSTRACT: The relationship between induced abortion and the subsequent development of breast cancer has been the subject of a substantial amount of epidemiologic study. Early studies of the relations...

Increasing Use of Contraceptive Implants and Intrauterine Devices To Reduce Unintended Pregnancy

Number 450

(Reaffirmed 2011)

ABSTRACT: High unintended pregnancy rates in the United States may in part be the result of relatively low use of long-acting reversible contraceptive (LARC) methods, specifically the contraceptive i...

At-Risk Drinking and Alcohol Dependence - Obstetric and Gynecologic Implications

Number 496

(Reaffirmed 2013)

ABSTRACT: Compared with men, at-risk alcohol use by women has a disproportionate effect on their health and lives, including reproductive function and pregnancy outcomes. Obstetrician–gynecologists h...

Adult Manifestations of Childhood Sexual Abuse

Number 498

(Reaffirmed 2013)

ABSTRACT: Long-term effects of childhood sexual abuse are varied, complex, and often devastating. Many obstetrician-gynecologists knowingly or unknowingly provide care to abuse survivors and should s...

Sexual Assault

Number 499

ABSTRACT: Victims of sexual assault who are of reproductive age are at risk of unintended pregnancy as well as sexually transmitted diseases. Therefore, emergency contraception and prophylaxis for se...

Health Care for Urban American Indian and Alaska Native Women

Number 515

ABSTRACT: Sixty percent of American Indian and Alaska Native women live in metropolitan areas. Most are not eligible for health care provided by the federal Indian Health Service (IHS). The IHS partl...

Health Care Systems for Underserved Women

Number 516

ABSTRACT: Underserved women are those who are unable to obtain quality health care by virtue of barriers created by poverty, cultural differences, race or ethnicity, geography, sexual orientation, ge...

Intimate Partner Violence

Number 518

ABSTRACT: Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a significant yet preventable public health problem that affects millions of women regardless of age, economic status, race, religion, ethnicity, sexual o...

Disclosure and Discussion of Adverse Events

Number 520

(Replaces No. 380, October 2007)

ABSTRACT: Disclosure and discussion of adverse events in health care with the patient are morally and ethically necessary to achieve the optimal goal of respecting patient autonomy. Improving the dis...

Health Care for Lesbians and Bisexual Women

Number 525

ABSTRACT: Lesbians and bisexual women encounter barriers to health care that include concerns about confidentiality and disclosure, discriminatory attitudes and treatment, limited access to health ca...

Access to Emergency Contraception

Number 542

ABSTRACT: Emergency contraception includes contraceptive methods used to prevent pregnancy in the first few days after unprotected intercourse, sexual assault, or contraceptive failure. Although the ...

Over-the-Counter Access to Oral Contraceptives

Number 544

ABSTRACT: Unintended pregnancy remains a major public health problem in the United States. Access and cost issues are common reasons why women either do not use contraception or have gaps in use. A p...