Nurses in Pennsylvania are mobilizing to advocate for the ability to commit abortions in the state, according to a recent report by WHYY.
Current state law requires that all abortions be committed by physicians; however, some other medical professionals, including nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and certified nurse midwives have said they are supporting new legislation to change current state law so that they, too, can commit abortions.
Kara Pravdo, a nurse practitioner in Philadelphia, told WHYY that she needs to be able to commit abortions because more people are coming from out of state.
“We are sometimes getting patients now from other states where [abortion] is more restrictive,” Pravdo said. “So, we could be a place where we can help people, but we could be a place where we could help a lot more people.”
Katrina Lipinsky, a certified nurse midwife, said that expanding the pool of abortion providers would make it easier for women in rural areas to receive abortions. “Imagine if we allowed midwives, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants to provide abortion,” she said. “And that was a big enough draw — which I know it would be for some people — in places where there aren’t currently any available options, and [clinicians] moved to those places.”
But missing from this conversation is information about the risks that come with abortion, and the reason that many states have physician-only laws in the first place. Abortion isn’t routine health care. Instead, it’s a violent act that not only kills a child but also comes with risks for mothers.
In a first-trimester surgical D&C abortion, the preborn child is torn apart as he is suctioned through a powerful tube out of his mother’s body. This procedure comes with the risk of incomplete abortion, which occurs when pieces of the child are left behind, injury to the uterus or cervix, infection, hemorrhage, future pregnancy complications, and even death.
In the second trimester, the D&E abortion procedure kills the child by dismemberment as the abortionist tears his arms and legs from his torso and removes them before crushing his skull. Women undergoing this procedure risk cervical and uterine perforation, infection, hemorrhage, incomplete abortion, infection, and death.
Even the abortion pill, which is now the most prevalent form of abortion, comes with a host of complications for the mother, including hemorrhaging, incomplete abortion, and infection that can cause death. One study has found it to be four times more dangerous than first-trimester surgical abortion.
Abortion can be a dangerous procedure, and when it is done by a provider who is not a physician, the risk increases.
Allowing nurses to commit abortions in rural areas where hospitals or doctor’s offices are limited only increases the likelihood that women won’t be able to receive the medical attention they need should complications arise. Increasing access to abortion by loosening restrictions doesn’t benefit women — it only puts them in further danger.
