Statement attributable to:
Gerald E. Harmon, MD
President, American Medical Association
“Although the Supreme Court has kept the door ajar for litigation against Texas’s restrictive abortion law, SB 8 remains an egregious legislative overreach that imperils lives and interferes with the practice of medicine. Each day that the Texas law remains in effect, it has a detrimental impact on both reproductive health and shared medical decision-making, the cornerstone of the patient-physician relationship.
“In October, the AMA joined the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) in leading more than a dozen top medical societies in an amicus brief to the Supreme Court, urging the justices to defend patient access to safe reproductive care and reject the law’s legislative interference. Unfortunately, the Supreme Court has decided to allow the law to remain in effect while the litigation continues.
“The threat to access to reproductive health care is only growing. Other cases on the Supreme Court’s docket, like Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, are working their way through the courts and are at odds with the provision of safe and essential health care, with scientific evidence, and with medical ethics. The AMA will continue to oppose these intrusive laws and safeguard the ability of our patients to get timely, critical reproductive care.”
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About the American Medical Association
The American Medical Association is the physicians’ powerful ally in patient care. As the only medical association that convenes 190+ state and specialty medical societies and other critical stakeholders, the AMA represents physicians with a unified voice to all key players in health care. The AMA leverages its strength by removing the obstacles that interfere with patient care, leading the charge to prevent chronic disease and confront public health crises and, driving the future of medicine to tackle the biggest challenges in health care.
