Some Virginia doctors publicly oppose effort to enshrine state abortion access

Virginia currently allows abortion through the second trimester of pregnancy, and beyond that in certain circumstances with the approval of three doctors testifying that it’s necessary to save the pregnant patient’s life. 

The state legislature, with a Democratic majority, referred a constitutional amendment to the November ballot that would ensure access to abortion, birth control and other reproductive care, while also reducing the number of physicians needed to approve a procedure in the third trimester from three to one. 

A group of physicians with Virginia Medical Professionals for Women’s Safety say the proposal goes too far, arguing it raises questions of safety and would make it too easy for people to get an abortion, Virginia Mercury reports. 

Dr. Edward Springel, a maternal-fetal medicine specialist at VCU Health in Richmond, said he doesn’t support abortions for “social reasons” and he thinks removing the three-physician requirement adds risk. 

Indiana-based OB-GYN Dr. Christina Francis, who is CEO of the national anti-abortion group American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists, said the amendment would allow abortions to be performed by “unlicensed providers in unlicensed facilities,” according to the Mercury, but proponents of the amendment say that’s not true. 

The Mercury also spoke to Virginia women who needed abortion access during their pregnancies, including one woman who had a miscarriage that led to a potentially deadly infection, and another who developed a life-threatening condition during her first pregnancy that led to an emergency cesarean section. Knowing she had abortion access if that condition developed again before viability was the only way she felt safe having another child, she said.