More primary care doctors could begin to provide abortions

Dr. Stephanie Arnold opened Seven Hills Family Medicine in downtown Richmond, Virginia two years ago.

Arnold works with a small team – a registered nurse and several medical systems. As she talks through her day, she lists a diabetes follow-up, a knee pain visit, an ADHD follow-up, gender-affirming care and three procedural abortion appointments.

"A little bit of everything today, which is very typical for family medicine," says Arnold.

Providing all sorts of care – from gender-affirming care to reproductive healthcare, including abortion – are part of the philosophy of Arnold's clinic. She started her practice a few months after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.

Many of the abortions provided at Seven Hills are done with medication. For decades, reproductive healthcare like this was only available at specialized clinics like Planned Parenthood. But a growing number of primary care physicians are aiming to make them more accessible.

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Arnold points out the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists says any clinician who can screen patients and provide or refer for follow-up care can safely provide medication abortions. As Arnold sees it, abortion has been separated from other kinds of care for political reasons, not for medical reasons.

"It's just important to me to fight back against that stigma. There's no reason for this care to be siloed. It's very much a part of all the other care that I'm giving. I don't feel like it's any different than my management of chronic pain or endometriosis. This is just like a routine part