On January 22nd, 1973, the historic case of Roe V. Wade was battled in front of the United States Supreme Court. The court ruled 7-2 that a right to privacy under the Due Process Clause of the 14th Amendment extended to a woman’s decision to have an abortion, however even today the issue of unequal access to abortions for low income women is becoming an even greater problem in the United States. According to an analysis done by Guttmacher Institute, published in The Lancet Public Health “Nationally, half of all women of reproductive age lived within 11 miles of the nearest abortion clinic in 2014. However, a substantial minority of women, particularly those in rural areas, lived significantly farther away. One in five women across the country would need to travel at least 43 miles to reach the nearest abortion clinic” (Wind, Rebecca). This …show more content…
There are already shortages in some specialties; almost half of all U.S. counties lack a single practicing obstetrician and gynecologist” (Gomez, Amanda). There are few medical professions that face such stigma as one who provides abortions. The stigma does not just affect licensed physicians but many believe it starts in med school where students are afraid to seek out the training and knowledge needed to provide the service. Many groups including the World Health Organization believe that mid and lower level medical providers are completely capable to preform abortions yet 34 states require that it be administered by a licensed physician. “A recent study found that of the 1,800 practicing OB-GYNs surveyed, only 14 percent provided abortion services while 97 percent of them had patients sought the procedure” (Gomez, Amanda). While the abortion rate is at the lowest level since Roe v. Wade, the demand for access is