Until you need one, most people don’t care if there’s a convenient abortion clinic. Ridiculous regulations have closed over 100 clinics nationwide in the past 2 years. All but 7 clinics remain in Texas and several states (Mississippi, Arkansas, Missouri, North Dakota & South Dakota) only have one clinic. Montana has no clinics. All of this derogatory political and regulatory activity serves to downplay the medical advancements that were created by the abortion industry in the 70’s and 80’s. I know. I was there.
Many times, people say, "I think abortion clinics should move more into 'mainstream' medicine." My retort to that is that I think mainstream medicine should do things more like abortion clinics. Let me list five things that abortion clinics have contributed to mainstream medicine:
- Abortion Clinics invented outpatient surgery. In 1973 when abortion was legalized, all surgery was done in hospitals. When the hospitals wouldn't let us do abortions we said, "screw you" and set up clinics. So we literally invented the concept of outpatient surgery in this country.
- Abortion Clinics invented medical advertising. In 1973, only chiropractors did advertising. Some of my first ads were for Midtown Hospital in Atlanta and the doctors were asking me if this was "ethical". They weren't sure their names could be used. I did probably the first TV ad for any medical entity in Georgia with my ad for Midtown in 1976. We were the pioneers. Some may not think this is a good thing, as drug companies and big hospital corporations have saturated the market. But at the time, it was a revolutionary way of sidestepping a reluctant society and disseminating information about abortion and abortion clinics.
- Abortion Clinics invented cost containment in medicine. In 1973 the average cost of an early abortion was $150. Today it is around $500. There is no other medical procedure you can find that has a slower rate of inflation. When a woman goes to a hospital for a D&C it will cost about $10,000 and insurance pays for it. A D&C is generally not any more complex than an abortion. A tubal ligation 20 years ago may have cost $400. Today, it's about $5,000 in a hospital setting. But you see, abortion clinics haven’t had the luxury of manipulating the insurance reimbursement scheme, as most women have paid cash over the years.
- Abortion Clinics invented patient education. I don't know of any medical procedure performed today where the patient is given more information about her surgery and educated on a lot of things, including birth control. Check abortion clinic websites at Abortion Clinics OnLine to see the extent that most clinics go to fully inform patients in advance. If you go into a hospital for a D&C or any medical procedure you hardly get any specific information. You're barely told what they're going to do to you. You sign a general consent that absolves the hospital/doctor of everything and informs you of nothing.
- Abortion Clinics invented informed consent. Basically, the informed consent form for most surgery is pretty general. In abortion surgery, we give consent ad nauseum. Women are asked, are you sure of your decision? Have you considered alternatives? We tell patients about the procedure step by step. We talk about after care and birth control. Any good clinic will have a good informed consent form. Go to some of these clinic websites and see their consents online: Whole Woman's Health, Affiliated Medical Services, Houston Women's Clinic.
The Republican focus on regulating abortion clinics for the “safety” of women is bullshit. Abortion Clinics provide a better model for patient centered healthcare than most of medicine. The rest of healthcare should take notice.
Ann Rose has worked with abortion and family planning clinics since 1976. Currently, she has a website Abortion Clinics Online devoted to worldwide abortion clinic information.