Clinical and professional impacts of abortion restrictions on Southeastern maternal fetal medicine providers in a post Roe United States: A qualitative study
Abortion
Awarded 2022
Uta Landy Complex Family Planning Scholars
Abby Schultz, MD
University of North Carolina School of Medicine
$7,500

Abby Schultz, MD received her BA in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and Fine Arts at Cornell College. After graduating, she taught middle school in Memphis, Tennessee. Teaching in a county with high teenage pregnancy rates and limited sexual health education inspired her to pursue a career in medicine and reproductive justice. She received her MD from East Tennessee State University Quillen College of Medicine. As a medical student, she advocated for expansion of LARC provision in rural counties in Tennessee, resulting in a ten-fold increase in trained providers in one county. As an Ob/Gyn resident at Tufts Medical Center she developed a drug screening protocol for all obstetrical patients that has been used for equitable and anti-racist drug screening at three other institutions across the country. Throughout her training she has advocated to create more inclusive environment for LGBTQIA patients. Schultz is currently a Fellow in Complex Family Planning at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine. Her research interests focus on the impact of abortion restrictions on maternal mortality. Given the crucial role MFMs play in identifying abnormal pregnancies and caring for complex patients, understanding how abortion legislation affects MFMs’ clinical practice, perceptions of care quality and safety, and their psychosocial and physical wellbeing is critical to ensuring that the effects of restrictions are recognized and addressed. With support from the Landy Fund, she will conduct a qualitative interview-based study evaluating the impact of the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision on MFM physicians in the Southeast.