AUSTIN, Texas -- The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) and Planned Parenthood have battled for women's reproductive rights, and the fight is not about to end anytime soon, said Cecile Richards, outgoing president of Planned Parenthood, and Hal Lawrence, MD, ACOG executive vice president and chief executive officer.
Richards gave the Benson and Pamela Harer Seminar on History lecture at ACOG's here, entitled the History of Planned Parenthood. After her speech, she and Lawrence spoke with reporters about what they see as fights to protect women's healthcare.
"We need to elevate public understanding about what's happening in the name of politics, not in the name of healthcare," Richards said. "Women are very frustrated and worried that politicians are much more focused on denying access to affordable care than improving access to affordable care. And none of it is about improving healthcare outcomes -- it's all about politics."
Lawrence detailed ACOG's advocacy efforts in D.C. since January 2017, along with what ACOG President Haywood Brown, MD, called the "Gang of Six" -- groups of internists, pediatricians, family doctors, psychiatrists, ob/gyns, osteopaths, and the presidents of these groups -- fighting for the Affordable Care Act.
"When you go in representing 550,000 doctors, that got people's attention," Lawrence said, adding that since then, Planned Parenthood, as well as groups of nurse practitioners, physicians' assistants and nurse midwives have joined their group to advocate for women's healthcare.
"Planned Parenthood provides 300,000 mammograms per year, 600,000 Pap smears and all the contraceptive services. If women don't get those services, it ends up costing our country because they will have more illnesses and more unintended pregnancies, and that's not good for the country," he said.
Richards also said that a recent Fox News poll found that Planned Parenthood was "the most popular organization in the country," and added that support for Roe v. Wade has never been higher. "People believe that Planned Parenthood in particular is a solution, not a problem," she argued.
Lawrence said that things have "stabilized" at the federal level, but highlighted the battles ACOG and other organizations are consistently fighting at the state level against restrictions on women's healthcare, such as targeted regulation of abortion provider (TRAP) laws.
But Richards highlighted two bright spots for states, saying that the state of Oregon has "the most progressive reproductive healthcare rights in the country." She added that the state of Illinois, "the home of Henry Hyde [who originated the Hyde Amendment], restored Medicaid funding for abortion and now covers state employees' right to have an abortion."
"It's going to be more and more disparate in terms of where you happen to live," she said, "but there are very aggressive efforts at the state level to protect and move forward in the areas of reproductive healthcare."
On the clinical side, Richards specifically highlighted concerns about increasing maternal mortality, and characterized it as "unconscionable that we would be going backwards for something so basic."
Lawrence agreed. "We didn't want to roll back the clock on women's healthcare and a lot of the legislation being proposed would do just that, and actually increase maternal mortality," he said.
While Richards' last day of work at the organization was Monday, in her speech she said that she was going to be "focusing on voting," and hinted she might be very active in this election cycle.
"This election is going to be so unbelievable," Lawrence said.
Lawrence also spoke about the hope for the future on a clinical level in the form of telemedicine for women's healthcare, including medication abortion.
"It's going to solve our access problem," he said. "If we don't use telemedicine, we'll never solve the access problem because we don't have enough providers."
Richards said that women are already illegally getting medication abortion in the form of pills online, and said that women need to access healthcare safely. "Women will do what they have to do," she said, "which is why telemedicine is such an exciting opportunity."
Planned Parenthood has also been encouraging access to over-the-counter birth control and sexually transmitted infection (STI) testing remotely. Lawrence added that ACOG "supports over-the-counter contraception, and has for several years."
Primary Source
American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists
Richards C "The Benson and Pamela Harer Seminar on History -- History of Planned Parenthood" ACOG 2018.