Georgia’s abortion restrictions also affect pregnancy care in the state, according to a group of physicians who spoke this week at a hearing before a U.S. Senate subcommittee.
The doctors also warned that the abortion law would hamper the state’s ability to recruit and retain medical residents and OB-GYNs amid a shortage of maternity care.
Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff of Georgia, who chairs the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Human Rights and the Law, organized the field hearing at Decatur City Hall about the abortion law known as House Bill 481.
“I know this is a complex issue that evokes strong feelings across the state. That’s why it’s critical that the public hear directly from doctors about the consequences of Georgia’s six-week abortion ban,” Ossoff said.
H.B. 481 bans abortion at around six weeks of pregnancy. That is generally when an ultrasound can detect electrical activity in an embryo, legally considered a heartbeat in Georgia.
Its exceptions include ectopic pregnancy and miscarriage management, which are often treated with the same techniques as abortion.
OB-GYN resident Dr. Aisvarya Panakam said the ban’s language is vague and can still impede patient care.
“It’s hard to go to work every day and realize that you’re not offering your patients the level of care that you would expect to, that you would want yourself to if you could,” Panakam said at the hearing.
Panakam is currently completing a residency in Pittsburgh after graduating from Harvard Medical School. She said she had initially hoped to return to her home state of Georgia, but worried that the state’s abortion restrictions could limit her ability to access the comprehensive level of training she would need in order to respond to patient emergencies.
According to a recent analysis from the Association of American Medical Colleges, states with abortion restrictions are experiencing a decline in applications for medical residencies since the U.S. Supreme Court Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision overturning Roe v. Wade abortion protections.
The report also found the number of OB-GYN residency applications fell by 6.7% in states with abortion bans, compared to a small increase in applicants (0.4%) in states where abortion is legal.
“This is a really awkward situation where they need to receive this essential training, but they’re not legally allowed to do it in the location in which they are training,” Panakam said. “This often necessitates them applying to away rotations in other states. This is a very onerous process.”
Supporters of Georgia’s abortion limits say the law, also known as the “LIFE Act,” is not intended to impact critical pregnancy or emergency care.
Exceptions to the law include allowing abortion for rape or incest where there is an official police report on record, removal of an ectopic pregnancy or miscarriage tissue and for what the law terms a “medically futile” fetus.
But, said Dr. Suchitra Chandrasekaran, a maternal fetal medicine specialist and associate professor at Emory School of Medicine, the way the law is written does not correspond to the way physicians often deliver care to patients.
“So, by the time they realize they’re pregnant and now potentially found a physician who can help them, due to access, we’re delaying care to be able to intervene or make decisions,” she said. “So access is probably one of the big reasons for maternal morbidity and mortality.”
Georgia’s 2019 abortion law took effect two years ago not long after the U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning Roe.
After the Georgia Supreme Court allowed H.B. 481 to remain in effect last year, a separate lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the law is continuing to move through Fulton County Superior Court.
