Key findings from UW CORE study published on Scholar Strategy Network

In 2012, the Wisconsin legislature passed Act 217, which increased regulation on medication abortion care in our state. The legislation included a ban on telemedicine provision of medication abortion, restrictions on who can prescribe the medication, and more.

A new Scholar Strategy Network article by UW Collaborative for Reproductive Equity trainee and UWSMPH medical student Taryn Valley examines the effect of Act 217 on patient care in Wisconsin. “How Medication Abortion Legislation in Wisconsin Impedes Access to Safe Care” is a summary of findings from a UW CORE study interviewing Wisconsin physicians, nurses, and other health care professionals who provide abortion care:

“Providers unanimously expressed that current regulations on medication abortion provision in Wisconsin harm both patients and providers; one interviewee described the regulations as “designed to make it tough on people” to access abortion care.

Interviewees identified Act 217’s same-physician restriction as medically unnecessary, as well as burdensome for both patients and providers. Many interviewed cited the same-physician restriction as the most burdensome medication abortion regulation in the state, one calling it “the single biggest problem with access” to abortion in Wisconsin.”

Read the whole article here.