As I was walking between classes as a pre-medical undergraduate student in 2018, I saw that the Student Assembly for Gender Empowerment was distributing hats that read “PROTECT ROE v. WADE.” I picked one up and stepped into my classroom, only to be greeted by a classmate who said, “Protect Roe v. Wade? Why would it need protection?”

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This is not the first time medical trainees have had to advocate for preserving access to abortion education. In 1993, Medical Students for Choice (MSFC) was founded to address the “deficit of abortion education” in medical training. There are now more than 220 chapters at medical schools worldwide. These chapters work to improve family planning education for students at their schools and advocate for pro-choice policy changes. Through MSFC, medical students have the opportunity to travel, even internationally, for abortion training. Such opportunities are a vital lifeline after the SCOTUS decision but depend on a student’s significant investment in time and effort; this is even more the case for any opportunity outside MSFC. For residents who are already swamped, acquiring a thorough training in abortion care would introduce an additional burden. There may not be sufficient training alternatives for the many employed by programs where it is presently banned.

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