For this episode of BackTable OBGYN, Drs. Park and Hoffman invite Dr. Louise King, MD, JD of Brigham and Women’s Hospital to talk about the legal perspective of Roe v. Wade.

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SHOW NOTES

Dr. King, who works in the Division of Minimally Invasive Gynecologic Surgery, is also an Assistant Professor and Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Biology and the Director of Reproductive Bioethics at Harvard Medical School. Initially a lawyer of constitutional law, Dr. King utilizes the combination of her legal training with her medical knowledge to educate patients and colleagues on the essential and compassionate delivery of abortion healthcare.

The episode begins with Dr. King providing the legal history of reproductive care in the United States. She walks listeners through a timeline that includes the Comstock laws, as well as U.S. Supreme Court decisions, including Griswold v. Connecticut, Roe v. Wade, and Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. When discussing the history, Dr. King emphasizes the role of healthcare professionals in combating the current legal state. Specifically, she urges listeners to go beyond simply stating that discussions about abortion should remain between physicians and patients. Instead, she shares how providers should continue the conversation by vocalizing what abortion is, why it is essential, what makes it a complex topic, and why each person should defend the right for themselves and others.

Dr. King then describes how to develop a space that promotes others to engage in conversation about abortion. Her approach to this dialogue includes allowing people to identify what gives them pause and determining ways to validate someone’s discomfort about the topic. Dr. King provides examples of how she frames her discussion with medical students at Harvard Medical School, which involves utilization of the pillars of ethics as a scaffolding for conversation. She then goes on to define reproductive justice for listeners.

Lastly, Dr. King charges the audience to practice their first amendment right and educate about abortion care. She also discusses the developing course for OBGYN residency programs and acknowledges the varying levels of training based on geographical location. The episode concludes with Dr. King sharing avenues of support for physicians who regularly practice abortion care.