Abortion, in vitro fertilization (IVF), access to medications such as Plan B—these and other topics related to reproductive health have been hot-button issues ahead of the November 2024 election. 

Since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, 13 states have banned abortion and eight more have restricted the procedure to earlier in pregnancy than was allowed by Roe v. Wade. More recently, the Alabama Supreme Court categorized embryos created through IVF as “unborn children” under the state’s law, and anyone who destroys them can be charged with wrongful death. As a result, many clinics in the state have paused IVF procedures, prompting concern from patients and doctors.

As voters head to the polls soon to cast their votes in the presidential election and various state-level races, Tufts Now asked two maternal health experts—Danielle Roncari, associate professor at Tufts University School of Medicine and director of family planning at Tufts Medical Center, and Vanessa Nicholson, assistant professor in the Department of Public Health and Community Medicine at the School of Medicine—for their thoughts about what’s at stake regarding reproductive rights. 

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I’m an OB/GYN physician, and the issue of reproductive rights is incredibly important to my patients and their families. It’s one of my top issues when I go to the polls.

Every day I take care of patients who are faced with difficult personal decisions about their reproductive health. At Tufts Medical Center, we see complicated pregnancies and complex medical conditions for the mother and sometimes the baby. 

The decision of whether to continue a pregnancy is fundamental to maternal health and the health of families. The decision of when and if to have a child is important because it allows my patients to lead the life they want to live. I feel strongly that someone’s ability to make these decisions should not be impacted by their zip code or their ability to pay. 

We take care of a number of patients who struggle to get pregnant and aren’t able to. Fertility issues are a medical condition and a reproductive justice issue, as well, because fertility procedures can be expensive. Women in lower economic brackets may not be able to afford fertility treatments. 

Medications such as mifepristone, which is a drug used for abortions and to manage miscarriages, are at risk from being removed from the market and have been at forefront of recent Supreme Court cases. It is the safest and most effective medication on the market to care for a miscarriage or end a pregnancy, if the patient chooses.

Tufts Medical Center is an academic medical center where we train students and residents, and we have seen that nationwide, this issue is affecting the training of new doctors and the ability for patients to get comprehensive, quality care in certain parts of country. Patients and physicians are going to states where they can access the full spectrum of reproductive health care. Many doctors are staying in those areas to practice, which impacts OB/GYN care around the country. —Danielle Roncari, associate professor, Tufts University School of Medicine, and director of family planning at Tufts Medical Center

Voters should make it a priority to understand the position of the president as a person who has the power to appoint federal appeals court judges—judges who could allow a state to ban emergency abortions. The next president may also work with federal judges and Congress to protect reproductive rights or take away medications that help to manage abortions and miscarriages. 

Say, for example, the president appoints an anti-abortion advocate as the head of Health and Human Services. That person then may issue a regulation prohibiting access to many types of contraception or backups, including Plan B. Such a decision has a lifelong impact for young birthing people and their partners.

Since the overturning of Roe v. Wade, abortion has been a topic of intense discussion; however, reproductive rights extend beyond abortion. Such rights include, but are not limited to, the right to receive doula services without a cost barrier, the right to midwifery services, the right to safely ask questions and advocate for oneself. I discuss these other issues extensively in a report I completed for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. This report precedes the Act for Promoting Access to Midwifery Care and Out-of-Hospital Birth Options and serves as an example that when you use your voice, positive change is indeed possible. —Vanessa Nicholson-Robinson, assistant professor, Department of Public Health and Community Medicine, Tufts University School of Medicine