NPR Report Examines Bill To Require State Medical Schools To Teach Abortion Procedures to OB/GYN Residents
NPR's "All Things Considered" yesterday featured a segment on a bill (AB 2194) that would require accredited medical schools in the state to teach abortion procedures to OB/GYN residents (Lohr, "All Things Considered," NPR, 8/21). The legislation, which the Senate approved last week and the Assembly passed earlier this year, would allow medical schools or individual residents with moral or religious objections to opt out of the requirement. However, the bill would require medical schools that decide not to teach abortion procedures to ensure that OB/GYN residents can receive the instruction at a different institution. The legislation would not establish standards for the instruction. The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education requires medical schools to teach abortion procedures to OB/GYN residents, but more than half of OB/GYN residency programs nationwide to not adhere to the requirement (California Healthline, 8/13). In 1996, when the council established the accreditation guidelines, Congress passed a law that said medical schools could not lose federal funds for failing to teach abortion procedures, "essentially wip[ing] out" the effectiveness of the guidelines, NPR reports. The bill, which analysts predict Gov. Gray Davis (D) will sign next month, will "likely become a blueprint" for similar laws in other states, NPR reports ("All Things Considered," NPR, 8/21). The segment is available online in RealPlayer audio.
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