Becoming an OBGYN During the Post-Dobbs Era
By: Sanjana Satish
I will never forget the sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach as I read the New York Times article about Dobbs v. Jackson and its reversal of Roe v. Wade. I immediately thought about myself and my friends in medical school, not yet ready to take on the massive responsibility of raising a child. I thought about some of the patients I had encountered who, like me, were not ready to be parents or those who never intended to be parents and other patients still, needing to focus on children at home or simply too sick to be pregnant. What would happen to us?
My passion for advocating for abortion access began when I was an undergraduate student in Nashville, Tennessee. I have dreamed of being a doctor since I was in elementary school, and as I began taking pre-med courses it became clear that a pregnancy might hinder my ability to achieve my life-long dream. As a planner, I identified where I could get an abortion if I needed one. At the time, there were only two clinics in Tennessee that provided abortions, both about three hours away. Tennessee also had a mandatory waiting period of 48 hours. I was enraged that these were my options. And I was one of the lucky ones. I had the privilege of having the money to afford an abortion and the travel required to get that abortion, as well as a supportive university that would accommodate time away from class, if needed.
What I thought was terrifying as a young university student has become so much worse. Tennessee has since banned abortion with no exceptions for rape, incest, or health of the pregnant person. This ban has had devastating consequences and has severely impacted patients in the state. Dr. Zahedi-Spung, a maternal-fetal medicine physician who practiced in Tennessee and has since left, shared that one of her patients with preeclampsia – a potentially dangerous condition where a pregnant person’s blood pressure rises and can cause organ damage and sometimes seizures – had to take a six-hour ambulance ride to North Carolina to get an abortion. Once there, she was showing signs of kidney failure due to her condition. Not only do these bans severely jeopardize the lives of patients, but they also endanger physicians who now must choose between providing medically indicated care and protecting themselves from potentially facing felony charges.
My dismay at the limited abortion access in Tennessee inspired me to get involved with Planned Parenthood: Generation Action, an organization that promotes reproductive health advocacy on college campuses. Through this organization and my undergraduate coursework, I knew that I wanted reproductive health to be part of my career as a physician. In medical school, my interest in reproductive health blossomed through organizations such as Medical Students for Choice, an internship with the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine, reproductive health research projects, and clinical experiences that have shown me the importance of access to abortion care. As I continue to work with pregnant patients in the hospital and learn more about health policy, I grow more committed to what I already knew—abortion is essential health care.
Looking toward my future, I hope to be an OBGYN and will be applying to obstetrics and gynecology residency in the fall. The Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe, and subsequent state action to ban abortion has impacted my thinking regarding where I hope to train. For example, having a robust education in abortion and family planning is particularly important to me. Despite many programs doing excellent work to navigate the restrictions that this decision has placed on them, the educational experience in states with restrictive abortion policies may still be limited compared to programs in states that have more permissive laws. I often think about how this increasing variability in OBGYN training from state to state will impact my future patients and colleagues.
While grappling with this, I will continue to fight for my patients within the constraints of the law in the hospital setting. Outside of the hospital, I will write letters to my federal and state lawmakers, attend protests, and do whatever I can to increase access to this crucial health care service. Join me in advocating for abortion access using these practical tools.
Sanjana Satish is a third year MD/MPH student at the University of Miami, an aspiring OBGYN, and a former intern at the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine. She is interested in reproductive justice and health equity advocacy and research. Connect with her on Twitter.
