ACOG Statement on the Supreme Court

Washington, DC—Mark S. DeFrancesco, MD, President of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), released the following statement regarding the Supreme Court's decision to review/not to review the Fifth Circuit decision on Texas's abortion restriction law:

"ACOG applauds the Supreme Court for its decision to review the Texas law that, under the guise of protecting the safety of women, would actually restrict access to safe, legal abortion. We are confident that the Court will recognize the burden that this law imposes on women, and that it will agree that it is an unconstitutional attempt to attack the right of women to abortion care.

"Access to reproductive services, including abortion care, is essential for millions of American women. By making it harder for women to get the care that they need, laws like Texas's ultimately jeopardize safety and are attacks on women's health.

"Abortion is one of the safest medical procedures performed in the United States, and neither of the requirements imposed by the Texas law would make it any safer. Worse, this law clearly imposes an undue burden on a large number of Texan women, who would no longer have reasonable access to abortion care when needed, forcing them to wait longer before an abortion, travel across state lines for safe care, or even forego abortion care altogether.

"Research and experience have shown that where abortion is illegal or highly restricted, women resort to desperate, dangerous means to end an unwanted pregnancies. This is clearly not the legal access to care that was stipulated by the Court's decision in Roe v. Wade.

"Importantly, decisions about reproductive health, including abortion care, are best made by a woman in consultation with the people she trusts, including her obstetrician-gynecologist. Abortion is safe and legal - and it is safe because it is legal. For the sake of American women, we need to keep it that way.

"We hope that the Court's eventual ruling on this important case will be yet another affirmation of the Constitutional right to reproductive health care for American women."

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (The College), a 501(c)(3) organization, is the nation’s leading group of physicians providing health care for women. As a private, voluntary, nonprofit membership organization of more than 57,000 members, The College strongly advocates for quality health care for women, maintains the highest standards of clinical practice and continuing education of its members, promotes patient education, and increases awareness among its members and the public of the changing issues facing women’s health care. The American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), a 501(c)(6) organization, is its companion organization. www.acog.org