(NewsNation) — Fewer new medical graduates applied to residency programs in states that banned or restricted access to abortion, according to a report by the Association of American Medical Colleges.
In 2022, the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, and 14 states — Idaho, North Dakota, South Dakota, Oklahoma, Texas, Missouri, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky, Indiana and West Virginia — banned abortions.
Obstetrics and gynecology (OB/GYN) residency applications declined in all 14 states despite a slight overall increase in physicians applying for OB-GYN residency programs nationally, according to the report.
The report, which was released last month, found that Arizona had a more than 26% drop in applications in OB-GYN residencies since 2022, while Missouri saw a more than 25% drop. Additionally, Tennessee saw a 20.9% drop, while Oklahoma saw a 4.5% drop, according to the report.
The number of applicants to these postgraduate training programs dropped slightly across the board from the spring of 2023 to the spring of 2024, with larger decreases seen in states with abortion bans. Those states saw a drop of 4.2% from the previous application cycle, compared with 0.6 % in states where abortion is legal.
Similarly, states with abortion bans saw a 6.7% drop in OB-GYN applicants year over year, while states without abortion restrictions saw a 0.4% increase in OB-GYN applicants. The group only looked at graduates from U.S. medical schools, not those from osteopathic or international medical schools.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
