Radical or routine? Nurse practitioners, nurse-midwives, and physician assistants as abortion providers.
In 2013 California passed legislation that expanded the pool of eligible aspiration abortion providers to include advanced practice nurses, nurse-midwives, and physician-assistants. This law, enacted in 2014, is based on evidence generated by the Health Workforce Pilot Project #171, which examined the safety and effectiveness of aspiration abortion care provided by these clinicians as well as patient acceptability and satisfaction. This evidence and the resulting policy change build on international research and established workforce strategies used to expand access to safe abortion services for women worldwide, representing a radical departure from the legislative trend of constricting access in the United States.
Medical Sociologist, Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Health (ANSIRH) Program, Bixby Center for Global Reproductive Health, University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), Oakland, CA, USA.
Lori
L
Freedman
Project Director, ANSIRH Program, Bixby Center for Global Reproductive Health, UCSF, Oakland, CA, USA. Electronic address: molly.battistelli@ucsf.edu.
Molly Frances
MF
Battistelli
Epidemiologist, ANSIRH Program, Bixby Center for Global Reproductive Health, UCSF, Oakland, CA, USA.
Caitlin
C
Gerdts
Clinician-Scientist, ANSIRH Program, Bixby Center for Global Reproductive Health, UCSF, Oakland, CA, USA.
Monica
M
McLemore
D000028:Abortion, Induced / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000379:methods; D001294:Attitude to Health; D002140:California; D005260:Female; D018166:Health Care Reform / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006801:Humans; D009721:Nurse Midwives / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D009722:Nurse Practitioners / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D010823:Physician Assistants / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011261:Pregnancy Trimester, First
USA; abortion law and policy; abortion providers and services