Last summer’s reversal of Roe v. Wade by the U.S. Supreme Court has changed our health care system – and access to abortion care – in countless ways. The health, economic, and social burdens of being unable to access abortion care is falling disproportionately on lower-income individuals, worsening inequities in health outcomes and perpetuating the cycles of poverty and structural racism. Illinois is a destination for people seeking this care, many of them coming from neighboring states that have imposed limits. Globally, complex webs of culture, politics, and resource distribution also result in barriers to accessing abortion care.
Objectives
March 20 -
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Historically Contextualizing the Global State of Reproductive HealthSarah B. Rodriguez, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Instruction, Global Health Studies, Weinberg College of Arts & Sciences
Lecturer, Medical Education, Feinberg School of Medicine
Faculty, Medical Humanities & Bioethics Graduate Program
Northwestern University
A central concern regarding reproduction is power, power between men and women, between the state and its citizens, between clinicians and their patients. In this talk I will contextualize the current state of global reproductive health by considering its history as a one of power inequalities and inequities but also one of resistance and revolution. By doing so, I will also outline how history, especially regarding reproductive health, is a useful tool for health care practitioners.
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March 21 -
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Abortion and Reproductive Politics in ChinaSarah Mellors Rodriguez, PhD
Assistant Professor of History, Missouri State University
In the early 1950s, abortion was punishable by law in China. How then did China come to have one of the world’s highest abortion rates? Drawing on the grassroots history of birth control and abortion, this talk explains how abortion inadvertently became a primary method of fertility control in China.
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March 22 -
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Global Burden of Unsafe Abortion and Strategies for Expanding Quality Abortion CareLaura Laursen MD, MS
Assistant Professor, Department of OBGYN, Division of Family Planning, RUSH Medical College
In settings where abortion is restricted, people often access abortion outside of the formal healthcare system. In developing countries this often means unsafe abortion. Tragically, unsafe abortion is the leading preventable cause of maternal mortality and contributes to 13% of maternal deaths worldwide. There are innovative solutions to this problem though. Both abroad and in the United States, I will discuss who is working to improve the safety of abortion. She will show how both large changes in policy and individual grassroots educations work to empower patients, ensure safe abortion, and improve reproductive health overall |
March 23 -
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Structural Racism’s impact on Bodily Autonomy: Reframining Abortion Access as a Racial Justice IssueAsha Hassan, MPH, Graduate Researcher, Center for Anti Racism research for Health Equity (CARHE) How does structural racism impact abortion policy, access, and outcomes? This talk will unpack the history of abortion in racialized communities in the US, explore the relationship between structural racism and abortion access, and describe the inequitable effects of abortion restrictions at home and abroad. |
Accreditation Statement:
In support of improving patient care, Rush University Medical Center is jointly accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), and the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), to provide continuing education for the healthcare team.
Credit Designation Statements
For Medicine:
Rush University Medical Center designates this live activity for a maximum of 4.00 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Physicians should claim only credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.
For Nursing:
Rush University Medical Center designates this live activity for a maximum of 4.00 nursing contact hour(s).
For Social Work:
As a Jointly Accredited Organization, Rush University Medical Center is approved to offer social work continuing education buy the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved continuing education (ACE) program. Organizations, not individual courses, are approved under this program. Regulatory boards are the final authority on courses accepted for continuing education credit. Social workers completing this course receive 4.00 general continuing education credits.