Post-Roe Medical Care Delays Worry Democratic Lawmakers

The overturn of Roe v. Wade has fueled medical uncertainty for miscarriage care as well as procedures intended to treat chronic or life-threatening diseases, Democratic lawmakers said at a Thursday hearing.

Patients are facing long delays for miscarriage care, and medical professionals are deferring to hospital attorneys to make treatment calls, doctors and abortion advocates testified to members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s oversight panel. Medical professionals are advised to wait until a patient’s life is in danger before providing care in some cases, some said.

“These tactics are already having chilling effects. Women are being denied care, and doctors are being put in the horrible position of hesitating to provide life-saving health services out of legal confusion or fear of criminalization,” Rep. Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) said.

Democrats on Thursday asked medical providers and abortion advocates how the US Supreme Court’s ruling could impact freedoms to travel across state lines for health care, the extent to which ectopic pregnancies are addressed under existing abortion restrictions, and how state abortion bans could undermine trust between doctors and patients.

Rep. Ann Kuster (D-N.H.) said she’s heard leaders in some states encouraging “vigilante justice” to enforce abortion rules, which she says has deterred care.

“This is the reality, where doctors are unable to respond to patients that are in intense pain and being told to leave the emergency room and not come back until they’re bleeding excessively,” she said.

The high court ruling has shaken the medical world, spurring questions such as whether routine medical procedures could be regarded as aiding and abetting abortions. Debate has also arisen over whether pharmacists can refuse to fill prescriptions for drugs that could impact pregnancies but treat other conditions. Refusing to fill miscarriage management drugs could defy federal anti-sex discrimination laws, the Department of Health and Human Services warned July 13.

“I’m a dermatologist. I use methotrexate to treat certain autoimmune diseases, cancers, psoriasis—but some pharmacists in some states are refusing to stock or dispense methotrexate and other drugs,” American Medical Association President Jack Resneck Jr. said at the hearing. Some states consider methotrexate an abortion-inducing drug because of its risks of miscarriage in pregnant individuals.

Meanwhile, Republican lawmakers cited concerns that legislative attempts to codify Roe—such as the House-passed Women’s Health Protection Act (H.R. 8296)—would expand abortion access beyond the time frame allowed prior to Dobbs. The measure would specify that health-care providers have the right to provide abortion services without limitations and bar restrictions that have been included in various state laws. The Supreme Court had previously held that states can’t ban abortions prior to around 24 weeks of pregnancy.

New legislation could force doctors and health-care providers to “violate their sincerely held beliefs and perform abortions,” Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) said.

The AMA has “only begun to assess the full impact of the Dobbs decision on our physicians and their patients,” Resneck said. In June, the AMA’s policymaking body voted to adopt resolutions that oppose state efforts to criminalize abortion and other reproductive health services.

“At this point, we have more questions than answers,” he said.