CV NEWS FEED // States with abortion bans are experiencing declines in applications for residencies from new graduates of medical schools in the United States, according to a 2023 Association of American Medical Colleges analysis that was published this month.
The Association’s research institute conducted an analysis published in 2023 of 2022-2023 application cycle data after the U.S. Supreme Court made its June 2022 decision for Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization.
The reductions in applicants for residencies in states with abortion bans have continued, the new report, which covers the 2023-2024 application cycle, indicated. States that had no abortion restrictions or had restrictions that were based on gestational age, as of April 1, 2024, received more applications than states where abortion is fully banned.
From 2023 to 2024, there were 72 fewer medical school graduates who applied for residencies and 100,000 fewer application submissions.
“The reduction in applications per applicant has been a stated goal of the ERAS® program and residency program directors, yet a disproportionate decrease in applicants to programs in states with abortion bans is still observable,” the 2024 report said.
Across specialties, applications for residencies in states that ban abortion decreased 3.3% from the 2021-2022 cycle to the 2022-2023 cycle and 4.2% from the 2022-2023 cycle to the 2023-2024 cycle.
In states where abortion is legal, the drop was 1.9% from the 2021-2022 cycle to the 2022-2023 cycle and 0.6% from the 2022-2023 cycle to the 2023-2024 cycle.
The differences were more dramatic in the OB/GYN specialty. From 2021-2022 to 2022-2023 and from 2022-2023 to 2023-2024, applications decreased 11.7% and 6.7%, respectively, in states where abortion is banned, while they dropped 5.3% and rose 0.4% in states where abortion is legal.
Dr. John Littell, a family physician who also practiced obstetrics for more than 25 years and is a member of the Catholic Medical Association, wrote in an email interview on May 16 that the data is “not at all surprising.”
“There is no doubt that medical schools (and especially the MD programs cited in this study) have increasingly selected for students (those) who are aligned with their philosophy, i.e., espousing the principle of autonomy over any other ethical principle,” Littell said:
Hence, medical students from their first week in school are instructed to ask patients about their preferred pronouns, offer advice regarding contraception/sterilization and abortion, and enable patients seeking to change their “assigned at birth” gender to the opposite gender — all without questioning (even for patients who are minors).
Apart from examining applications for OB/GYN residencies, the 2023 and 2024 analyses did not include osteopathic physicians (DOs) or international medical graduate (IMG) applicants because students graduating with Doctor of Medicine degrees “historically have had the greatest chance of matching into specialties and programs of their choice,” the 2024 report said.
“(These students) are likely to be most sensitive to practice and training restrictions in states with total abortion bans or gestational limits on abortion,” the report said.
From 2023 to 2024, OB/GYN applicants rose 14.2% in states where there is a gestational limit on abortion, 13.9% in states where abortion is legal, and 9.9% in states where abortion is banned.
Littell said DO programs tend to attract more conservative students.
The report acknowledged that the analyses don’t specify why the seniors chose their specific programs; they just described a trend.
Littell said that hospital programs and states want to attract medical students to complete residencies with them because those who do are more likely to stay in the area afterward. The reasons why students tend to stay include that after their first year of residency, the residents receive a state license and can begin “moonlighting” by their third year, and residents make contacts with possible employers in their community during training, he said. Many residents might also meet their future spouse during these years.
“The sad reality is that medical schools across the nation have become more interested in selecting students who align with their woke values than those who are the most intelligent, articulate, and compassionate — particularly if these same students have demonstrated a willingness to embrace conservative Christian values,” he said.
Littell said the country may need “a completely alternative” health care system that respects human life from conception to natural death.
American Academy of Family Physicians, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, and the American Academy of Pediatrics support “abortion rights,” he noted.
The country needs “a truly Catholic medical school,” according to Littell.
“Until that happens, we need to encourage physicians who respect life (i.e DO NO HARM) to become actively engaged in teaching medical students at their local medical schools,” he remarked. “Similarly, we need to increase their participation in residency programs at the hospitals in which they practice.”
Littell, who previously was a regional director for the Association, is the chairman of Do No Harm Florida, a political action committee of health care professionals, legal professionals, church groups, and community groups who want to make sure that a November election ballot question won’t become part of the state’s constitution.
The measure, Amendment 4, reads:
“No law shall prohibit, penalize, delay, or restrict abortion before viability or when necessary to protect the patient’s health, as determined by the patient’s healthcare provider. This amendment does not change the Legislature’s constitutional authority to require notification to a parent or guardian before a minor has an abortion.”
In short, the amendment would legalize abortion throughout pregnancy, Littell explained.
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