Although abortion is frequently labeled an essential component of women\u2019s health care, a newly published study casts\u00a0new light on the procedure\u2019s actual acceptance level among America\u2019s obstetricians and gynecologists .<\/p>\n
According to a study published in Obstetrics and Gynecology Journal<\/em>, 97 percent of obstetricians and gynecologists have met with\u00a0patients wanting an abortion, but only 14 percent are willing to perform them.<\/p>\n Religious affiliation was a major predictor of abortion compliance: the study found 1 percent of evangelical OB-GYNs were abortionists, while 9 percent of Catholics and Eastern Orthodox specialists would perform the procedure.\u00a0Additionally, 10 percent of non-evangelical Protestants fell in the same category, according to the study.<\/p>\n Despite a surge in pro-life medical groups in recent years, most notably Medical Students for Life, the pressure to normalize abortion in the medical community remains high, reports Kathleen Gilbert, writing for LifeSiteNews”<\/p>\n Dr. Lorna Cvetkovich, medical director of Sanctity of Life Ministries in Fairfax, Va., told a bioethics conference audience in July that many medical programs in the U.S. pressure students to perform abortions as a part of their medical training.<\/p>\n \u201cMany programs are not open to pro-life candidates,\u201d said Cvetkovitch, who also noted that the issue of conscience rights now looms large on the national scene under the Obama administration.<\/p>\n \u201cWe will have the choice to either practice anti-Hippocratic, pro-choice type medicine and keep our jobs – or practice Hippocratic, Catholic, pro-life medicine and lose our jobs,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Thousands of faith-based doctors protested after President Obama rolled back federal health regulations instituted by President George W. Bush to help pro-life doctors assert their right not to participate in abortions, including by dispensing the abortifacient morning-after pill.<\/p>\n A 2009 poll found that 90 percent of faith-based doctors would leave medicine if forced to give up practicing according to their moral beliefs.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n