TY - JOUR T1 - Trauma of abortion restrictions and forced pregnancy: urgent implications for acute care surgeons JF - Trauma Surgery & Acute Care Open JO - Trauma Surg Acute Care Open DO - 10.1136/tsaco-2022-001067 VL - 8 IS - 1 SP - e001067 AU - Grace Keegan AU - Myles Francis AU - Kristen Chalmers AU - Mark Hoofnagle AU - Mary Noory AU - Rachael Essig AU - Lea Hoefer AU - Neha Bhardwaj AU - Elinore Kaufman AU - Marie L Crandall AU - Mohammad Zaidi AU - Valerie Koch AU - Hillary McLaren AU - Marion Henry AU - Chelsea Dorsey AU - Tanya Zakrison AU - Julie Chor Y1 - 2023/01/01 UR - http://tsaco.bmj.com/content/8/1/e001067.abstract N2 - In the aftermath of the Supreme Court’s Dobbs vs. Jackson Women’s Health decision, acute care surgeons face an increased likelihood of seeing patients with complications from both self-managed abortions and forced pregnancy in underserved areas of reproductive and maternity care throughout the USA. Acute care surgeons have an ethical and legal duty to provide care to these patients, especially in obstetrics and gynecology deserts, which already exist in much of the country and are likely to be exacerbated by legislation banning abortion. Structural inequities lead to an over-representation of poor individuals and people of color among patients seeking abortion care, and it is imperative to make central the fact that people of color who can become pregnant will be disproportionately affected by this legislation in every respect. Acute care surgeons must take action to become aware of and trained to treat both the direct clinical complications and the extragestational consequences of reproductive injustice, while also using their collective voices to reaffirm the right to abortion as essential healthcare in the USA. ER -