Abstract

The National Association of Nurse Practitioners in Women's Health (NPWH), along with numerous other national health professional organizations, affirms that abortion is an essential component of comprehensive reproductive healthcare and that it should be legal, safe, and accessible. Legal restrictions do not eliminate abortion but instead increase the likelihood that abortions will be performed unsafely, with the potential for complications and death. Legislative and policy decisions should be firmly rooted in science, protect the patient-clinician relationship, and aim at reducing disparities to ensure equitable access to safe, effective, and timely abortion care.

People with low incomes, those living in rural areas, people from racial and ethnic minority groups, adolescents, individuals who are incarcerated, transgender men, immigrants, and others who are marginalized are disproportionately affected by barriers to and restrictions on abortion access. NPWH advocates for policies and evidence-based initiatives that promote equity and reduce disparities in all aspects of reproductive health including abortion care. NPWH supports a reproductive justice framework based on three core principles: the right to have children, not have children, and parent children in safe and sustainable communities.

NPWH asserts that reproductive healthcare must be comprehensive, accessible, safe, and inclusive for all individuals. NPWH supports the right of individuals to have access to factual, evidence-based information to make their own informed reproductive choices.

Author Details

As a national professional membership organization, NPWH is the nation's leading voice for courageous conversations about women's health. In our clinics and in our culture, women's health nurse practitioners champion state-of-the-science health care that holistically addresses the unique needs of women across their lifetimes. We elevate the health issues others overlook and compel attention on women's health from providers, policymakers, and researchers.

Sigma Membership

Non-member

Lead Author Affiliation

National Association of Nurse Practitioners in Women's Health, Washington, DC, USA

Type

Position Statement

Format Type

Text-based Document

Study Design/Type

Expert Opinion (nationally/internationally recognized)

Research Approach

N/A

Keywords:

Abortions, Reproductive Healthcare, Reproductive Health

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.

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Publisher's Version

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Review Type

None: Reputation-based Submission

Acquisition

Self-submission

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