For doctors, abortion restrictions create an 'impossible choice' when providing care

Now that the Supreme Court has overturned Roe v. Wade, medical ethics experts say many physicians will be caught in a bind: unable to fulfill their professional obligations to provide care to their pregnant patients because of state laws that forbid it.

Physicians take an oath to "do no harm" as part of their medical training. They learn about how to stay up to date, throughout their careers, on the best standards of care for treatment. And they learn about patient privacy and safety, and how patients should have a say in their care based on their values and lived experience.

"The goal is for a patient to make a decision for themselves about what's right," says Dr. Stephanie Mischell, a family physician in Dallas who is a fellow with Physicians for Reproductive Health.

But too often, Mischell says, the conversations she has with pregnant patients have less to do with their values and health and more to do with navigating a labyrinth of legal requirements. "There's a running list of different types of restrictions and bans that exist on abortion care, whether it's pre-viability bans, mandatory waiting periods, mandatory counseling, bans on telehealth – Texas really has all