Director's Corner

As predicted, things have gotten more complex: Navigating difficult terrain 

By Adina Kalet, MD, MPH and Elizabeth (Libby) Ellinas, MD, MS

It has been a year since the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization ended the constitutional right to abortion after nearly 50 years. As director of an institute dedicated to the transformation of medical education with character, caring, and excellence and the leader of our institution’s Center for the Advancement of Women in Science and Medicine, we are monitoring the cascade of consequences these changes are having. We continue to believe that robust discussion, dialogue, and debate surrounding this complex issue is essential. In this spirit, we once again invited a range of authors to share their perspectives with the Transformational Times ...

In the June 24, 2022 issue of the Transformational Times, anticipating that the US Supreme Court would overturn federal protections of access to abortion, we predicted that the healthcare landscape would become more complex. Those complexities are unfolding. The ruling has already had a significant nationwide impact. The intended and unintended consequences continue to evolve.  

The legislative pot continues to boil. Abortion is now illegal in thirteen states with a few going as far as criminalizing health professionals for offering abortion care. (Iowa Republicans passed legislation late Tuesday to ban most abortions after six weeks; that bill is expected to be signed into law by the governor.) Sixteen states have voted to affirm some sort of abortion rights, with Michigan, California, and Vermont making abortion access part of their constitutions. As of June 13, 2023, nearly 700 abortion bills had been introduced, split evenly between those that would expand and those that would restrict access. This has significant implications for medical education and the health of the public. 

Perspective/Opinion

Tragedies and triumphs in the year since the Dobbs decision

By Emmy Lambert, M3

After decades of targeted legislation infringing on the right to obtain and provide abortion care, the Supreme Court late last June stripped this right, which had been the law of the land for nearly a half century. Ms. Lambert reflects on frustrations of the past year, her advocacy experiences, advances on the educational front, and hopes for the future…

The consequences for patients

On the day of the Dobbs decision, I grappled with an emotional cocktail of anger, grief, frustration, and sadness. These emotions have only swelled over the past year, as I’ve stomached countless news stories of pregnant people’s most gut-wrenching experiences.

The consequences for learners and a new frontier...

Perspective/Opinion



Reflecting on my journey to women’s health care a year after Dobbs



By Amy H Farkas, MD, MS



Dr. Farkas shares her long-standing passion and perspective on the advances and freedoms in women’s health care, both locally and globally…

My path to women’s health care began in 9^th grade world geography class. Mr. Nickels required us to report on a current world event each week, which meant I often found myself reading the world news section of the Kansas City Star. One day, as I read a story about the treatment of women by the Taliban in Afghanistan, I found myself wishing I could do more to help women around the world. Recognizing that I would not be traveling to Kabul any time soon, I decided to call my local Planned Parenthood to volunteer. I honestly can’t remember if I even knew what Planned Parenthood did, other than I had a vague understanding they were active in women’s health care and were a lot closer than Afghanistan.

My first job as a volunteer was to learn about local anti-abortion groups, specifically the Army of God, an organization known for acts of violence against abortion facilities and clinicians. I was shown pictures of known members in hopes that I could pick them out from the mostly peaceful protestors. Within a few weeks, I was the Saturday morning clinic escort. My main job was to stand opposite the protesters who showed up each Saturday and be a friendly face to women who were coming for care. Most Saturdays it was just me and the security guard standing across from 5 to 15 protestors who were yelling and holding signs. 

Perspective/Opinion



“Excuse me?!” An immigrant’s take on pro-life/pro-choice

By Himanshu Agrawal, MBBS, DF-APA

One year after the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Dobbs vs. Jackson Women’s Health Organization ended the constitutional right to abortion, Dr. Agrawal offers the perspective of an immigrant and psychiatrist.

I hail from New Delhi, India. Female feticide has been so rampant in my country that it is now illegal to determine the sex of the fetus, lest the patriarchy kill the baby against the mother’s wishes. (Unfortunately, having a daughter is sometimes seen as a liability in many parts of India because of the dowry demanded by the groom’s side when it is time for them to get married.) I am proud to be an overseas citizen of India, and as a physician and a human being, I am not proud of these truths about my homeland. 

As an outsider who arrived in the United States in 2002, I have always been confused by the phrases “pro-life/pro-choice.” It has never struck me that those who identify as “pro-choice” are necessarily “anti-life.” To me, a more accurate description would be “anti-abortion” and “not anti-abortion” (which is, of course, very different from “pro-abortion”). I am a proud, naturalized U.S. citizen, and tend to lean liberal. My stance on abortion is clear in my head: I support the right of a pregnant woman to make personal choices about whether to seek an abortion for herself. This does not automatically mean that I always respect the decision. As I process this conflict personally and professionally, there are two stories that stick with me:

Perspective/Opinion



Turning the table on risk to a woman’s life due to pregnancy, post-Dobbs decision

By Sarah E Thordsen, MD, FACC

A cardiologist who cares for women with cardiac problems before, during, or immediately after pregnancy asks how much risk a woman living in Wisconsin should be expected to carry when her cardiac issues are exacerbated by pregnancy …

In 1849, Wisconsin lawmakers passed a statute that banned the killing of fetuses; the statute has been widely interpreted as outlawing abortion in all cases, except to save the mother's life. It was never repealed. The Supreme Court's 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling legalizing abortion nullified the ban, but the ban was never repealed. A second Wisconsin law from 1985 permits abortions before a fetus can survive outside the womb. And finally, in 2022, the Supreme Court’s Dobbs vs Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision left abortion care in Wisconsin in, at best, a state of confusion, and at worst, complete chaos.

It may not be clear why any of this impacts my professional life as a cardiologist.

Webinar #2:

The Post-Dobbs Impact on Medical Education – UME, GME, and Beyond



Monday, Aug. 21

2:45pm – 4:00pm ET

Registration for the second webinar in the series is now open. This webinar will focus on the impact the Dobbs decision has had on learners’ curricular experience, as well as medical education leaders and program directors, and discuss how institutions are addressing training requirements in the context of reproductive health restrictions. Speakers will discuss curricular solutions as well as provide a learner perspective of how these changes may potentially impact learner's career choices. Extra time will be allotted for audience questions. 

Invitation to Apply for Fall Workshop Series

Hosted by the Kern Institute Collaboration for Scholarship (KICS), this research workshop supports researchers who previously collected qualitative data



Application deadline: July 21 | Selection decisions by: July 28

KICS is hosting a qualitative research workshop series to support researchers who have previously collected qualitative data. The workshop will help researchers complete their analysis and prepare a manuscript for submission and publication.

Your perspective and experience make a great fit for this series. 

Please apply by completing our brief questionnaire. 

Kern Institute Grand Rounds

Toward a Virtue-based Account 

of Racism in HealthCare

Tuesday, Aug. 15, 2023

Virtual (via Zoom)

9-10 a.m.

Please join us for a Grand Rounds presentation with Ian S. Peebles, PhD, Harold T. Shapiro Postdoctoral Research Associate in Bioethics, Princeton University Center for Human Values.

Throughout the session, he will apply his theory of racism to issues in healthcare to demonstrate its ability to accurately capture the relevant phenomena in that domain. In improving our understanding of racism, he aims to generate more targeted reform that effectively mitigates racism and promotes human and societal flourishing

CALL TO ARTISTS

Humanities in Medicine event

Visual and Performing Artist Submissions:

Humanities in Medicine is presented by Froedtert Hospital’s Departments of Spiritual Services and Behavioral Health

Friday, September 8, 2023

5:30 pm – 8:00 pm

Froedtert Hospital Clinical Cancer Center

1st Floor - Helfaer Mezzanine

We are looking for Froedtert Health and MCW staff, physicians and patients to share their visual and performing art at our next Humanities in Medicine event. Some examples of the creative works we would like to include: drawing & painting, mixed media, fiber art, photography, poetry, spoken word, dancing, music, singing and acting.