PRCH Physicians in the News

April 11, 2012

On KQED, the NPR station in northern California, Leadership Training Academy Fellow Carrie Frederick, MD, MPH, explained why she is more motivated than ever to lobby legislators for affordable contraception for all. Listen or read the transcript here.

BlissTree, a women's health website, conducted a Q&A about later abortions with PRCH consulting medical director Anne Davis, MD, MPH. Taking on the myths surrounding this care, Dr. Davis explained women’s needs for later abortions and the medical techniques involved.

"[T]here’s so much misinformation out there about [later abortions],” she told the reporter. “It’s rare, but it’s a very, very necessary service. ... [P]eople deserve good medical care. They don’t deserve to be misled or humiliated for their choices." Read the rest of the interview.

Leadership Training Academy Fellow Tracey Wilkinson, MD, MPH, is the lead author of a study in the April Pediatrics showing that one in five U.S. pharmacies give teen customers misinformation about the emergency contraceptive Plan B. Dr. Wilkinson and the other researchers found that pharmacy staffs frequently told young women who said they were 17 that Plan B can’t be sold over the counter to 17-year-olds. (In 2009, the FDA lowered the age requirement for over-the-counter Plan B from 18 to 17.) More than 50 news outlets have reported on the study, including CNN.com, MSNBC.com, Reuters, and Time.com.

PRCH board chair Douglas Laube, MD, MEd, published a letter in the Wisconsin State Journal about an anti-abortion bill that would increase the delays already mandated for women seeking abortions. Today, at least 24 hours before the procedure, a patient must go through the state’s informed consent process with a physician. The new legislation would require that doctor to be the same physician who will perform her abortion—a huge problem for women who must travel for hours to reach an abortion provider.

About the bill, which would impose other restrictions on abortion care, Dr. Laube wrote: "In my 18 years of practice in Wisconsin, I have yet to see a woman who would have benefited from a delay in treatment." Read the rest of his letter.

Dr. Laube's letter was also excerpted on the Campus Progress website.

Leadership Training Academy Fellow Z. Sheena Barnes, MD, published a letter in the Baltimore Sun in support of the contraception coverage rule and health care reform. Dr. Barnes shared the story of her patient Sandy, who works at a Catholic hospital in Baltimore: "She came to me seeking help for her heavy, long periods. Oral contraceptives would have altered her quality of life dramatically, but because her insurance would not cover birth control, she couldn't fill the prescription." Read the rest of her letter.

PRCH physician David Grimes, MD, spoke to the Arizona Republic about proposed bans on abortions after 20 weeks' gestation. Dr. Grimes concludes that the "fetal pain" theory does not stand up to scientific scrutiny: "Fetal pain at 20 weeks is an impossibility.... Pain is a mature thing people have after they are born." Read the article here.