News: AHA and AMA release statements on the overturning of Roe v. Wade

Following the overturning of Roe v. Wade on Friday, June 24, both the American Hospital Association (AHA) and the American Medical Association (AMA) released statements concerning its future impact on hospitals and healthcare.

The AHA’s statement said, “We expect that today’s decision will have practical impacts on hospitals and health systems, including on health care provided across state lines, EMTALA obligations, maternal health care, the clinician-patient relationship, medical education and access to care for individuals regardless of socioeconomic status.”

The AMA statement relayed the possible effects of states limiting access to reproductive health services. “States that end legal abortion will not end abortion,” Jack Resneck, Jr., MD, president of the AMA, predicted. “They will end safe abortion, risking devastating consequences, including patients’ lives.” He further reiterated the AMA’s long-held position that the early termination of a pregnancy is a medical matter between patient and physician and the association’s opposition of any law that endangers a patient’s access to safe, evidence-based medical care.

“State restrictions that intrude on the practice of medicine and interfere with the patient-physician relationship leave millions with little or no access to reproductive health services while criminalizing medical care,” Resneck said.

Editor’s Note: You can read the AHA’s full statement here and the AMA’s full statement here.