Programs to Teach Doctors How to Do Abortions Plummet

The percentage of hospital training programs requiring future obstetrician/gynecologists to learn how to perform first-trimester abortions has fallen by almost half since 1985, according to results of a nationwide survey released Monday.

The decrease eventually might bring about a shortage in the number of doctors qualified to do abortions, said Dr. Trent MacKay, assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology at UC Davis.

MacKay released the survey results in San Diego at the National Abortion Federation’s annual two-day convention.

“I think there is a real concern to having committed physicians who are available to provide abortion services,” MacKay said. “There are relatively few mentor programs around because mentors are dying off or are retiring.”

A 1985 poll found that 23% of training hospitals with obstetrics/gynecology programs required residents to learn how to provide both first- and second-trimester abortions. MacKay’s poll, which surveyed 268 training programs in September and October, 1991, found the percentage of institutions requiring training for first-trimester abortions had fallen to 12%. And only 7% required training for second-trimester abortions, he found.

The survey revealed that most residency programs offer the procedure as an option rather than as a requirement because many students fear harassment by anti-abortionists, or they have moral questions about the procedure, MacKay said.

Induced abortion is the most commonly performed operation in the United States, said MacKay. More than 40% of women have the operation before age 45, he said.