Today, to commemorate the 51st anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark decision in Roe v. Wade, physicians from across the country gathered virtually to share how a national abortion ban, possible now in the wake of the reversal of Roe, would impede the practice of medicine and harm women’s health. Doctors in Georgia, Michigan, Texas, and Wisconsin discussed how the overturning of decades of legal precedent in Roe in the Court’s 2022 Dobbs decision made it harder for themselves and other physicians to care for their patients to the best of their ability, and how a national abortion ban, supported by politicians like former President Donald Trump, would roll back hard-won progress on abortion rights in states like Michigan and Wisconsin and further endanger the health and lives of patients in states like Georgia and Texas.

“We must make no mistake: In the absence of Roe v. Wade, a national abortion ban is possible, and politicians like Donald Trump want to make it a reality,” said Dr. Rob Davidson, Executive Director of the Committee to Protect Health Care and west Michigan emergency physician. “A national abortion ban would take away the right to abortion in places like my state of Michigan, where voters overwhelmingly passed Proposal 3 in 2022 to restore the protections of Roe. A national abortion ban would also further restrict access to this necessary health care in states where abortion is already banned or severely restricted. That’s why doctors like us are speaking out today.”

“When patients don’t have access to abortion when they need it, the consequences can be devastating,” said Dr. Didi Saint Louis, a member of the Committee’s Reproductive Freedom Taskforce and OBGYN in Atlanta, Georgia. “When politicians interfere with women’s personal health care decisions, women’s lives are put at risk. A national abortion ban like Donald Trump supports would put lives at risk nationwide.”

Dr. Bhavik Kumar, Co-Chair of the Committee’s Reproductive Freedom Taskforce and family physician in Houston, Texas, said, “I’ve seen patients in my own practice who are experiencing debilitating nausea and vomiting, resulting in numerous emergency room visits as they become dehydrated and more and more weak each day. I’ve seen patients with pregnancies that were wanted but diagnosed with a condition that is incompatible with life. Other patients with chronic medical conditions like hypertension, diabetes, lupus, heart conditions, and so many others who either have had worsening of their conditions in previous pregnancies or are already experiencing complications in this pregnancy. Unfortunately, none of these patients I see can access abortion care in Texas — a possible reality for all of us were a national abortion ban to be enacted.”

“Wisconsin’s abortion ban prevents me from being able to use the full scope of my training and expertise — the evidence-based, individualized care that my patients want, need, and deserve,” said Dr. Kristin Lyerly, a member of the Committee’s Reproductive Freedom Taskforce and OBGYN in De Pere, Wisconsin. “And a national abortion ban would mean worse reproductive health care — from miscarriage management to the infertility treatment that helps people start their families to caring for people with complicated pregnancies — worse reproductive health care for all of us. It would also mean that anti-abortion extremists like Donald Trump would continue to be able to dictate your personal medical decisions. On this anniversary of Roe v. Wade, we must acknowledge the harm that state abortion bans have already done, and further recognize the very real risk a national abortion ban poses.”