ACOG District II Statement on Supreme Court Decision Dobbs v. Jackson

Albany, NY — ACOG District II, representing obstetrician-gynecologists across New York State, condemns the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in the case of Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, which represents a direct attack on the patient-physician relationship and the practice of medicine.

The decision in Dobbs upends public health infrastructure in our country, and the values we as health care professionals hold dear. By putting physicians in fear of retribution for providing evidence-based, appropriate, lifesaving care, and denying patients the ability to turn to their trusted physicians for care, this decision fundamentally, irreparably, and devastatingly compromises the patient-physician relationship.

Patients across the country will lose the ability to make decisions about their health, their families, and their futures. Many patients will come to New York State as a safe harbor for abortion care. As a result, physicians and practices in our state will see an influx in patients forced to delay care and travel hundreds of miles away from their communities to seek care in New York.

While New York will continue to be a safe harbor for abortion access, the consequences of this decision will be sweeping. It will not only be opening the floodgates to widespread bans on abortion but also for what it represents—a frightening era for health care professionals who must fear criminal, professional, and civil penalties for providing evidence based, appropriate care. The Court's decision will have devastating ripple effects, and this legislative interference will not stop with abortion—its chilling effect will impede miscarriage and ectopic pregnancy management, threaten infertility treatments, and fuel efforts to target other essential care, including contraception and gender affirming care.

Pregnancy can be a high-risk time in a person's life, particularly for those with medically complex conditions, and this decision will take us backwards. The harm of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision will be experienced most acutely by the communities that are already systemically marginalized, particularly communities of color and low-income communities, exacerbating unacceptable inequities in our health care system.

ACOG District II will continue to advocate for our patients, our colleagues, and our profession in the face of further unfounded and dangerous legislative interference.