As the election nears, an issue that is top of mind for many healthcare professionals is reproductive health.
The topic was the center of discussion during a Monday panel at HLTH 2024 in Las Vegas. The panel featured Chelsea Clinton, former first daughter, vice chair of the Clinton Foundation and co-founder of Metrodora Ventures; and Jennifer Klein, assistant to the president and director of the Gender Policy Council. It was moderated by Dr. Bayo Curry-Winchell, founding physician and chief medical officer of Beyond Clinical Walls.
During the discussion, Clinton shared three things she wants healthcare professionals to be aware of going into the election:
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1. Reproductive rights are on the ballot beyond the presidential election and abortion ballot initiatives: Abortion is a key issue for the presidential election, and abortion access is on the ballot in 10 states. That said, many other elections have implications for abortion rights as well, including governors, attorney generals and judges.
“So this is not only about who you’re thinking of when you go to vote for president or abortion ballot initiatives,” Clinton said. “This is, I would argue, when you go to vote for anyone in this election.”
2. This is also an education issue: There needs to be better education for young people when it comes to reproductive health, Clinton argued. This would help them make the right choices as kids, as well as support them as adults.
“I grew up in public schools in Arkansas,” she said. “I had age-appropriate sexual reproductive health education. When I was in what was called junior high school then, middle school in today’s vernacular, I could have gone to the school nurse and gotten a condom. I never would have. I would have been mortified and I didn’t even think about sex. But if I had needed one, I knew that I could go get one. I also had hearing tests, vision tests, and we had vaccine clinics where we could get routine childhood immunizations. None of that is true today.”
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3. There are implications for the medical field: Only four hours of the four years at medical school are spent on menopause, according to Clinton. In addition, students in medical school or residency in states with an abortion ban can’t be taught about abortion care.
“This ricochets in so many ways beyond just the healthcare conversation,” Clinton said. “It’s about education, it’s about the future of the medical profession, and I would argue once again, about our fundamental human rights.”
Photo: HLTH