“When EDs become true reproductive health access points, we uphold healthcare as a human right.”

Statement from Elizabeth Keating, MPA, Director of Access Bridge, a program of PHI’s Bridge Center, on Supreme Court Reproductive Health Rulings

“Access Bridge recognizes that two widely-anticipated Supreme Court decisions this term, on mifepristone access and emergency abortion care, have preserved the status quo—for now. But, per Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, these rulings are ‘not a victory’ for pregnant patients.

“The Supreme Court had the opportunity to make definitive substantive rulings on these reproductive healthcare issues. Instead, both Food and Drug Administration v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine and Idaho and Moyle et al. v United States made rulings on procedural questions. This means that the final outcomes of these issues are still to be determined, leaving ongoing uncertainty for medical providers and their pregnant patients. Yet one thing is clear: These decisions do nothing to address urgent gaps in access to care for people of reproductive age. 

“One in three people of childbearing capacity live in contraceptive deserts. Nearly one million people annually seek miscarriage-related care in EDs, and most are not offered treatment, leading to days or weeks of unnecessary suffering and a high rate of repeat hospital visits. Patients of color have less access to and worse outcomes in every category of reproductive healthcare. Access Bridge addresses these gaps by helping doctors treat pregnancy emergencies and reproductive health needs for every patient in every state through evidence-based practices and protocols, an approach that has proven to be effective in states with and without abortion bans.

“We started Access Bridge to elevate the standard of care for reproductive healthcare delivery in America’s emergency departments (EDs) to address inequities. When EDs become true reproductive health access points, we uphold healthcare as a human right. We urge hospitals, health systems, and government to act quickly and definitively to embrace policies that support healthcare providers’ ability to treat patients with evidence-based medicine.”