Cutler publishes study in Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health

Abigail Cutler, MD, MPH, assistant professor in the Division of Academic Specialists in Obstetrics and Gynecology, co-authored a new article published in Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health. Co-authors include Corinne M. Hale; Laura Jacques, MD; Eliza Bennett, MD; and Jenny A. Higgins, PhD, MPH.

In “‘Are We Allowed to Refer Patients?’: U.S. Physician Experiences Facilitating Abortion Care in a Restricted State,” Cutler and co-authors examined how Wisconsin OB-GYNs helped patients access abortion care while practicing under the threat of a criminal abortion ban following the Dobbs decision. Through interviews with 21 Wisconsin OB-GYNs, the researchers identified three major challenges: legal uncertainty and inconsistent institutional guidance; inadequate referral pathways that affected both patients and physicians; and the burden placed on individual physicians to develop informal referral systems themselves.

“Institutions should help facilitate timely abortion access for patients and ease burdens on physicians by establishing and supporting robust referral systems and patient-centered navigation services.”

Read the whole article here.

**by Ob-Gyn Communications Intern Eiman Mir