The Scarcity Of Abortion Training In America's Medical Schools

The Scarcity Of Abortion Training In America's Medical Schools
BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND - JANUARY 22: Editors Note: This image may have been digitally manipulated for confidentiality to remove any patient identidy data. Theatre staff prepare to go in the operating theatre at Birmingham Women's Hospital on January 22, 2015 in Birmingham, England. Birmingham Womens Hospital provides a range of health services to women and their families using the latest scientific procedures and care. Last year the maternity unit delivered over 8,000 babies, cared for 50,000 patients and performed over 3000 procedures in its state of the art theatres. The hospital is also home to world renowned research scientists, fertility clinic and the national sperm bank. (Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)
BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND - JANUARY 22: Editors Note: This image may have been digitally manipulated for confidentiality to remove any patient identidy data. Theatre staff prepare to go in the operating theatre at Birmingham Women's Hospital on January 22, 2015 in Birmingham, England. Birmingham Womens Hospital provides a range of health services to women and their families using the latest scientific procedures and care. Last year the maternity unit delivered over 8,000 babies, cared for 50,000 patients and performed over 3000 procedures in its state of the art theatres. The hospital is also home to world renowned research scientists, fertility clinic and the national sperm bank. (Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)

Last spring, I attended a conference for pro-choice medical students outside of St. Louis, and there I met the doctor who helped fill the void left by George Tiller.

Tiller, who ran a clinic in Wichita, Kansas, was one of only a handful of physicians in the U.S. who provided abortions late in pregnancy. In 2009, he was murdered in his church by an anti-abortion extremist. When I heard that everyone at the conference would get to meet the physician who helped bring abortion services back to Wichita, I wasn’t sure what to expect. And I definitely wasn’t expecting someone as young and idealistic as Cheryl Chastine.

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