Why abortion is healthcare

Meghan Eagen-Torkko; Molly Altman; Julie Chor; Linda S Franck; Mara Greenberg; Louise P King; Ellen Solis; Daniel Suárez-Baquero; Alicia Swartz; Monica R McLemore

doi:10.1016/j.outlook.2024.102345

Why abortion is healthcare

Nurs Outlook. 2024 Dec 19:102345. doi: 10.1016/j.outlook.2024.102345. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Eastern Michigan University, School of Nursing, Ypsilanti, MI.
² Nancy Atmospera-Walch School of Nursing, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, HI.
³ School of Medicine, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL.
⁴ University of California San Francisco, Department of Family Health Care Nursing, San Francisco, CA.
⁵ Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, East Bay, Kaiser Permanente Northern California, Oakland, CA.
⁶ School of Medicine, Harvard Medical School Center for Bioethics, Boston, MA.
⁷ Department of Child, Family, and Population Health, School of Nursing, University of Washington, Seattle, WA.
⁸ Department of Nursing, California State University East Bay, Hayward, CA.
⁹ Department of Child, Family, and Population Health Nursing, University of Washington, Seattle, WA. Electronic address: mclemor@uw.edu.

PMID: 39706736
DOI: 10.1016/j.outlook.2024.102345

Abstract

This invited commentary provides an in-depth critique and analysis of "Abortion is healthcare: In what sense?" (Martsolf, Tollefsen, and Curlin). We reject the claims put forth in their piece on three distinct grounds. First, the language used throughout the manuscript is imprecise and ableist. Next, the false and simplistic dichotomy of pregnancy as a state of health, while positioning abortion as exclusively harmful and risky is scientifically inaccurate. Finally, the authors fail to grapple with nursing as either technical or moral; and never address it as a profession with a social contract. We end our analysis with suggestions to continue this conversation and to engage readers in participation.

Keywords: Abortion; Ethics; Healthcare; Nursing ethics.