Abortion: Medical & Ethical Realities (w/Dr. Alexandre West)

The complex ethical, medical, and psychological issues relating to women's health & abortion are nuanced and often non-intuitive. An OB/Gyn doc joins me to help us better understand.

Dr. Alexandre (Alex) West is an assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Connecticut. Here's a link with support services for people with peripartum mood and anxiety disorders, pregnancy loss, and pregnancy termination for medical reasons. Here's another link for emotional support following pregnancy termination. And here's information on birth control, miscarriage management and abortion.

Video: https://zdoggmd.com/abortion-facts/

Topics & Timecodes

00:00 Intro

03:13 Scope of obstetrics, abortion as a part of the entire reproductive journey, legislator qualifications (or lack thereof)

07:46 Factors leading to unwanted pregnancy, nuances of birth control including eligibility, access & effectiveness

11:41 Ethical considerations including autonomy (personal control), maleficence (helping) & non-maleficence (not doing harm)

19:00 How pregnancy "weeks" are calculated, fetal cardiac activity, PCOS

24:27 Ethics of maternal autonomy vs. fetal autonomy

28:49 Ectopic pregnancy

35:33 The moral matrix, Alt-Middle perspective, mental health, postpartum depression & legislation as a barrier 

40:59 Nuance surrounding the definition of "life-threatening," medical decision-making & potential provider legal implications

45:31 The morning after pill, medication & procedural termination options, Mifepristone & Mifepristol

52:40 Tools, team & trust, teratogenic pregnancies, diabetes & cancer in pregnancy

1:01:44 Preventing unwanted pregnancies, need for education, birth control access, managing baseline health conditions, social determinants of health

1:07:21 Mindfulness, trauma, ACOG's policy on abortion, the physician/patient relationship, final thoughts

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