University of Virginia Medical Students for Choice

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INCIDENCE OF ABORTION:

43% of women have had an abortion by the time they were 45.

48% of pregnancies among American women are unintended.  ½ end in abortion.

There is a <1% complication rate associated with the procedure.

WHO HAS:

52% are younger than 25.

6 in 10 women having abortions have experienced contraceptive failure.

14,000 abortions follow rape or incest.

24% of abortion patients must travel over 50 miles, 8% more than 100 miles.

PROVIDERS:

87% of counties in the US have no provider, effecting 34% of all 15-44 year old women.

57% of OB/GYNs providers are reaching retirement age.

91% of OB/GYN residents report having no experience with abortion procedures

Medical Students for Choice (MSFC) is dedicated to ensuring that women receive the full range of reproductive healthcare choices. MSFC recognizes that one of the greatest obstacles to safe and legal abortion is the absence of trained providers. As medical students, we work to make reproductive health care, including abortion, a part of standard medical education and residency training.

More specifically, these are our goals:

  • to build a network of support and resources for the medical students and residents who are working to become tomorrow's abortion providers.
  • to reform medical school curricula and training to include abortion and reproductive health as a standard part of medical education
  • to increase education and training opportunities for medical students and residents in abortion and reproductive health
  • to educate students, the public, and policymakers in medicine and government in order to raise awareness of the vital need for abortion training

History of the organization

In the face of an increasingly violent anti-choice climate, Jody Steinauer, a UCSF medical student at the time, joined with a handful of students in 1993 to place a stake in the ground: if a woman was going to have reproductive choices in the future, students needed to learn about abortion in school, be trained in abortion in residency, and find support as future abortion providers.

Jody and her colleagues resolved to ensure that future medical students would be exposed to comprehensive reproductive health topics within their medical school curriculum and receive training in the provision of reproductive health care services, including abortion. They recognized the need for a national network of pro-choice medical students to keep abortion as a feasible, as well as legal, option for women by destigmatizing abortion among medical students and persuading institutions to include abortion as a part of standard medical education and training. A national network emerged, and Medical Students for Choice became an organization with a powerful vision and agenda.

Today MSFC is an internationally known non-profit organization with a network of over 7,000 medical students around the United States and Canada and a successful track record. Our work has led to curriculum reform, expanded training opportunities, increased awareness of the issue among policymakers, and support of students’ grassroots efforts across North America.

EVENTS we have hosted this semester:

Lunch and Movie - "When Abortion was Illegal"

Wednesday September 3, 2003

Pregnancy Options Counseling

Wednesday November 19, 2003

Hosted by MSFC, Family Practive Interest Group, OB/Gyn Club and Women in Medicine

Michele Martin, a retired professional pregnancy counselor (Student Health), Dr. Norm Oliver, a family physician, and Dr. Colleen Raymond, an obstetrician/gynecologist, talked to attendees about how they handle counseling patients with unplanned pregnancies.

PLANS for next semester and beyond:

Medical Students for Choice Southeastern Regional Conference

MSFC National Conference

MSFC Leadership Training Program

EVENTS:

Choice and Faith

Medical Abortion – What is it?

April 25, 2004 - March for Freedom of Choice - Walk on Washington. 

"The time is right for a public demonstration of historic size in support of abortion rights and reproductive freedom for all women. Our rights are under attack as they haven't been in over a decade, and Roe v. Wade hangs by a thread in the Supreme Court. You can help build the momentum we need to preserve our rights. Please join us to Save Women's Lives: March for Freedom of Choice."  

http://www.marchforchoice.org/