Abortion is an essential component of reproductive healthcare, the majority of American College of Radiology Council members ruled recently.
Nearly 76% voted to approve Resolution 60 versus about 24% who opposed it. The American Association for Women in Radiology proposed the resolution, and it had a long list of sponsors across various specialties.
“We want the policy that governs access to healthcare in our country to be informed by the evidence,” supporter Geraldine McGinty, MD, MBA, a New York radiologist who formerly served as chair of the ACR’s Board of Chancellors, told Radiology Business by phone after the vote. “It does unfortunately appear that is not front and center of some of the current political dialogue on this issue. So, we are joining 75 other medical professional societies who've affirmed that abortion is an essential component of healthcare.”
The resolution has a long list of co-sponsors including the Canadian Association of Radiologists, ACR’s Resident and Fellow Section, and state societies in Arizona, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Utah and Washington state.
“The American College of Radiology affirms that the interference in evidence-based medical care compromises the sanctity of the patient-physician relationship and undermines the provision of quality healthcare,” the resolution states. “Restrictions on abortion care directly impact diagnostic radiology, radiation oncology and interventional radiology and nuclear medicine patient care decisionmaking,” it added.
About 70 members of the council voted against the measure, among them, Hawaii radiologist Andrew V. Kayes, MD. McGinty said the physician reached out to her and discussed setting up an ACR committee for physicians who oppose abortion.
The American College of Radiology announced the outcome of the vote in a blog post shared Thursday.
Marty Stempniak has covered healthcare since 2012, with his byline appearing in the American Hospital Association's member magazine, Modern Healthcare and McKnight's. Prior to that, he wrote about village government and local business for his hometown newspaper in Oak Park, Illinois. He won a Peter Lisagor and Gold EXCEL awards in 2017 for his coverage of the opioid epidemic.