As Washington state sees an influx of patients and health care professionals in need of abortion care training, new legislation led by Senator Murray would create a grant program to help medical institutions expand abortion training and support students forced to travel from out-of-state
Senator Murray: “The nonstop Republican attacks on reproductive health care are having a chilling effect not only on patients seeking care, but also on the doctors and nurses who provide it. We need to make sure that health professionals in every state can receive critical training in reproductive health care—even if they have to travel to other states to get it.”
Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray, a senior member and former Chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, joined U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) to introduce new legislation to ensure that health care professionals can get the training and education they need—specifically, in abortion care—to meet Americans’ reproductive health care needs. In the year since the Dobbs decision overturned Roe v. Wade, one in three women has had their reproductive freedom stripped away and abortion and other reproductive medical training has been upended. Medical education institutions face additional obstacles in maintaining their accreditation and ensuring that residents and students receive proper training in abortion care. Educational institutions in states with abortion bans have been forced to send students out of state to receive training, as institutions in states where abortion is legal—like Washington—deal with an influx of health care professionals in need of training in abortion care.
Senators Murray and Baldwin’s Reproductive Health Care Training Act would establish a new grant program, funded at $25 million each year for the next five years, to award grants or contracts to eligible medical programs to expand and support education for students, residents, and advanced practice clinicians in states that allow comprehensive training in abortion care, including Washington. Funding could be used to support both medical programs with students traveling out of state, and programs in states accommodating an influx of students. Grants would be available to accredited health professions schools, academic health centers, and other safety-net providers in all states to offset the additional costs associated with training providers in a post-Roe world. The Reproductive Health Care Training Act will help meet the current need for more women’s health care providers nationwide, especially in states with abortion restrictions.
“The nonstop Republican attacks on reproductive health care are having a chilling effect not only on patients seeking care, but also on the doctors and nurses who provide it,” said Senator Murray. “We need to make sure that health professionals in every state can receive critical training in reproductive health care—even if they have to travel to other states to get it. This legislation will establish a much-needed grant program for schools and health centers in states like Washington, where abortion is legal, to expand clinical training for abortion care in a post-Roe world.”
The Reproductive Health Care Training Act is co-sponsored by U.S. Senators Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Catherine Cortez-Masto (D-NM) and Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ). Companion legislation was also introduced in the U.S. House today by Representatives by U.S. Representatives Ami Bera, M.D. (D-CA-06), Kim Schrier (D-WA-08), and Mark Pocan (D-WI-02). The legislation is supported by Physicians for Reproductive Health, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, UW-Health, the National Family Planning & Reproductive Health Association, Power to Decide, and Planned Parenthood.
“Physicians for Reproductive Health is proud to support the Reproductive Health Care Training Act of 2023. Comprehensive training in sexual and reproductive health care, including abortion care, for physicians and advanced practice clinicians providing reproductive health care is essential,” said Dr. Jamila Perritt, President & CEO of Physicians for Reproductive Health. “As states continue to ban and heavily restrict abortion access we are deeply concerned that future providers will not have the skills necessary to provide patients the care they need. We are grateful to see our champions take on this timely and important issue.”
“Abortion is essential health care, and, like access to abortion care itself, access to comprehensive education and training in abortion care is vitally important. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) strongly supports the introduction of the Reproductive Health Care Training Act of 2023, which will allow medical schools, residency programs, and other institutions to support and expand critical abortion care training for students, residents, physicians in practice, and advanced practice clinicians,” said AnnaMarie Connolly, MD, FACOG, Chief of Education and Academic Affairs at American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. “This legislation will allow future generations of physicians and practitioners to meet patient needs, providing a much-needed increase in access to care—especially in areas where the need for clinical care may increase tremendously as more patients present from out of state in search of such care.”
A one-pager summarizing the Reproductive Health Care Training Act is available here. Full text of the legislation is available here.
###
English 
Spanish