Chair's Check-In: Acknowledging the one-year anniversary of Dobbs

Over the weekend, we reached a difficult milestone: Saturday, June 24, 2023 marked one year since the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which overturned the constitutionally protected right to abortion in our country.

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) released a statement on the anniversary of the decision describing what many of us know to be true: Dobbs puts the health and autonomy of pregnant people in the U.S. at risk and puts unnecessary stress on physicians and health care providers who are restricted from offering the full range of evidence-based care. Ten major ob-gyn and health care leadership organizations co-signed this statement, which also includes a call to action to improve patient autonomy. Please take a few minutes to read the statement from our profession’s leading body.

UW Ob-Gyn Division of Academic Specialists in Ob-Gyn Director Amy Domeyer-Klenske, MD, also published an important reflection with ACOG that captures the challenges of the past year: the uncertainty of practicing medicine in a complex legal landscape, and the anxiety of speaking up about these issues. I hope you will read her essay as well.

It's very easy to feel worn down and demoralized about the state of reproductive health in Wisconsin, but I want to look for a moment at the glimmers of light I have encountered in the past year. I look around me with gratitude at everyone who helped our department navigate this difficult year, who stepped up to create patient and provider education materials, build clinical guidance to support colleagues through impossible choices, organize rotations for our trainees, and so much more. I look ahead of us with hope that so many medical students and future ob-gyns are motivated and passionate about building their skills and providing comprehensive care in their careers. I look ahead with hope that leaders in our state will work toward restoring reproductive autonomy.

While this anniversary is not a celebratory moment, it is a time to renew our steadfast commitment to improving the health of women and families in Wisconsin and beyond. We are our state’s leaders in reproductive health education, research, and clinical care, and I hope we will be our state’s leaders in supporting reproductive autonomy in the coming years.

With gratitude,

Ellen