In yet another indicator that the rollback of reproductive rights has ripple effects across health care, a new survey found that one in five OB-GYNs in the state of Texas are considering leaving in due to strict and confusing abortion laws.
The study, conducted by Manatt Health, surveyed 3,700 members of the Texas division of the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecologists and collected responses between mid-June and mid-September of 2024. The survey received 447 responses.
“A significant majority of practicing OB-GYN physicians surveyed believe that the Texas abortion laws have inhibited their ability to provide highest-quality and medically necessary care to their patients,” the study states. “As a result of Texas abortion laws, many Texas OB-GYN physicians and resident physicians are considering or have already made changes to their practices that reduce the availability of OB-GYN care in the state.”
Of the doctors surveyed, 76% reported that they believe they cannot practice evidence-based medicine in the state, with 60% reporting that a fear of legal repercussions is part of the reason why. Twenty-nine percent of respondents also said they don’t feel like they have a clear understanding of the abortion laws in Texas, and only 28% feel like they have support in navigating patients’ questions and concerns. As a result, 13% of those surveyed said they are planning on retiring early; 21% said they've thought about leaving or are planning to leave the state to practice in another. Fourteen percent said they would like to go to practice in another state but can’t due to personal reasons.
“I’m leaving because nothing is getting better — it’s only getting worse and I’m tired of dealing with all of it,” one doctor said in the survey. “I’m going where I never have to worry about being able to care for my patients again.”
Another said they are considering leaving because they want to grow their own family themselves, but are scared to be pregnant in Texas.
“I do not want to raise my daughter in a state that clearly does not care about women’s health,” the doctor said in the survey. “I want to stay and fight for change, but also have to protect myself and my family.”
Some said they feel the need to stay for personal reasons, or because they want to provide the best care possible for their patients.
“I do not feel I can practice the full scope of care to my patients which leads to increasing anger and frustration,” another doctor said. “I think of leaving Texas every day, yet I feel the need to stay to take care of my patients and fight for their reproductive rights.”
In 2022, Texas enacted laws that prohibit all abortions except when the life or health of the pregnant patient is at risk. Still, there have been reports of Texas women being denied care for conditions like ectopic pregnancies — a life-threatening condition — and women being denied care in other health and life-threatening situations. If physicians violate the law in Texas, they face up to 99 years in prison, loss of their medical license, and at least $100,000 in fines, creating a culture of immense fear.
Texas isn’t alone in facing an exodus of OB-GYNs due to strict abortion laws. As Salon previously reported, Idaho is becomign an OB-GYN desert, having lost 22 percent of its practicing OGBYNs in the 15 months following Dobbs, according to a report published earlier this year. The report also found that 55% of the state’s high-risk OB-GYNs have left the state, leaving less than five in the entire state to treat patients.
“In a time when we should be building our physician workforce to meet the needs of a growing Idaho population and address increasing risks of pregnancy and childbirth, Idaho laws that criminalize the private decisions between doctor and patient have plunged our state into a care crisis that unchecked will affect generations of Idaho families to come,” Dr. Caitlin Gustafson, an OB-GYN and the board president of the Idaho Coalition for Safe Healthcare Foundation, said in a news release about the report at the time.
According to the Texas study, there are many consequences of a shrinking workforce for the state. From worsening outcomes for pregnant people and infants to an added burden on an already strained healthcare system, significant ripple effects are anticipated.
“If the workforce shrinks or otherwise shifts in a material and negative manner, it is not just pregnant patients seeking abortion services that will be affected — all patients that require any of the full scope of care that this OB-GYN workforce provides will be impacted,” the study stated.
