Latest news with #MSIReproductiveChoices
The National
27-05-2025
- Politics
- The National
Nigel Farage takes aim at 'ludicrous' UK abortion policies
Legally in Scotland, England and Wales, women can have an abortion up to week 24 of a pregnancy, with the agreement of two doctors. The Reform UK leader took the stance at a press conference in London which was aired live by national broadcasters. Farage said: "I am pro-choice, but I think it's ludicrous, utterly ludicrous that we can allow abortion up to 24 weeks. READ MORE: Nigel Farage sees route to power in squeezing Labour from the left "And yet, if a child is born prematurely at 22 weeks, your local hospital will move heaven and earth and probably succeed in that child surviving and going on and living a normal life. So I believe there is an inconsistency in the law. I believe it is totally out of date." He said he would leave it up to people to "agree with that or disagree with that", adding: "I think our current situation on this is irrational." Labour MP Stella Creasy shared the clip of Farage on Twitter/X, writing: "We have been warning you about this man and his links to American anti-abortion campaigners. Now the mask is slipping about what he would do the only way to protect abortion access is to make it a human right. "Ask your MP to co-sign NC17 to the policing bill now." Creasy was referencing an amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill she has lodged to not only decriminalise abortion but to 'lock in' the right of someone to have one and protect those who help them. Creasy said the law must be changed so that 'the right to choose is a human right', ensuring no repeat of 'such awful cases and victimisation of vulnerable women again'. Another amendment on decriminalisation is said to have the support of more than 60 cross-party MPs and backers hope for a vote on it as early as next month. The amendment would not cover Scotland, where a group is currently undertaking work to review the law as it stands here. READ MORE: John Curtice gives his verdict as Hamilton by-election looms Last month, Scotland's women's health minister, Jenni Minto, said she was 'disappointed' that some still have to travel to England for late-term abortions, amid concerns that women in Scotland can only have a termination after 20 weeks in cases where there is either a foetal abnormality or the woman's life is at risk. Louise McCudden, from provider MSI Reproductive Choices, said: 'No-one should face criminal prosecution for ending their own pregnancy. Our Victorian abortion laws are not only outdated, but inconsistent, with abortion now decriminalised in Northern Ireland but not in England, Wales, or Scotland. 'As one of the world's largest abortion providers, we're deeply concerned to see so many women face prosecution, even jail, in Britain.'
Cosmopolitan
27-05-2025
- Health
- Cosmopolitan
You thought abortion was legal in the UK? Your questions on our campaign to decriminlise abortion answered.
Last week, we, alongside UK abortion provider BPAS, launched a powerful new campaign, to decriminilise abortion in England and Wales. While safe and legal abortions are available to most in the UK - roughly one in three women will have one in their lifetime - there's been a worrying rise in criminal cases being brought under a Victorian law dating back to 1861. With support from 30+ healthcare and women's rights organisations, including The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, MSI Reproductive Choices and The Fawcett Society we are calling for abortion to be removed from this archaic legislation. Put simply: we believe that abortion is a healthcare issue, not a criminal one, and no woman should face up to life imprisonment for ending a pregnancy. We also want to ring-fence our rights. With powerful anti-choice groups gaining traction in the UK, we need, now more than ever, to protect our access to abortion services. Getting behind our campaign is simple, all we need you to do is email your MP, with our simple to use template, found here. But, if you have any questions surrounding the campaign we're keen to hear them. We have taken the most common ones and answered them, with the help of experts who work directly in the field, below… It is, but only under set conditions. The 1967 Abortion Act sets out grounds and circumstances in which women can access legal abortion care, such as each request for an abortion having to be approved by two doctors. 'Any woman who ends a pregnancy outside of the terms of the Abortion Act - for example, if she uses pills bought online - can face up to life imprisonment,' explains Katherine O'Brien from BPAS. 'This is under a law that was passed in 1861, a time when women weren't even allowed to vote.' In the past three years, in England, six women have appeared in court charged with ending or attempting to end their own pregnancy, outside of the terms of the 1967 Abortion Act. Most recently, we saw Nicola Packer, who had been prescribed abortion medicine over the phone, in November 2020 (in the midst of the pandemic). The legal limit for taking medication, at home, to end a pregnancy is ten weeks but she was charged by police with "unlawfully administering to herself a poison or other noxious thing" with the "intent to procure a miscarriage". The prosecution argued that Nicola knew she had been pregnant for longer than that, and therefore broke the law. Nicola was found not guilty and was cleared by a jury. But, the relentless pursuit, questioning and having to face the courts was incredibly traumatic for her. She was arrested in hospital, by uniformed police officers, the case took four-and-a-half years to reach court and, when it did, her sex life and other private details were splashed all over the papers. 'Many more women are being harmed by this cruel and outdated law,' says O'Brien. 'Abortion providers report that for every woman that ends up in court, at least ten others are subjected to prolonged police investigations. This includes women who have experienced stillbirths or gone into premature labour and are suspected of having taken medication to end their pregnancies.' We recently reported that police have been given new guidance on how to search a woman's phone, home and period tracking apps after a pregnancy loss, if an illegal abortion is suspected. In Scotland, just like in England and Wales, abortion is legal up to 24 weeks, providing two doctors sign off on it. However, Scotland is a little different as they have some autonomy over abortion law. Our campaign is currently focusing on the law in England and Wales because this is where we are seeing the law being used to investigate and prosecute women and girls. Decriminalisation does not mean deregulation. It means removing the specific criminal sanctions attached to abortion. It would still be regulated, like any comparable form of healthcare, it would just stop women being investigated and threatened with life imprisonment, if they were suspected, by the police or their healthcare provider, of having an illegal abortion. Across the world, nearly 50 countries, provinces, and territories do not criminalise women who seek to end their pregnancy outside the law. These include Canada, New Zealand, and Northern Ireland. There is no evidence that decriminalising abortion would increase the sale of pills from non-licensed or non-reputable sellers. 'This doesn't happen in any country where abortion is decriminalised,' explains Louise McCudden, Head of External Affairs at MSI. 'On the contrary, the greater the legal restrictions on abortion, the more likely it is that some people fall outside the parameters of the law and end up purchasing pills online or ending their pregnancies in other ways.' Most people who get an abortion in the UK do so legally from a regulated, licensed provider, usually through the NHS (even if the provider is an independent charity like MSI Reproductive Choices UK or BPAS). 'Thanks to having a publicly funded health service which covers reproductive healthcare, there's a lot less room for opportunists to exploit gaps – but what we want to see is a situation where decriminalisation closes the potential for that altogether,' says McCudden. We are not asking for the time limit to be changed. Decriminilisation does not change the time limit, or any of the other regulations that currently surround abortion. 'In countries like Canada where abortion has been decriminalised, there has been no change in the average gestation at which abortion is carried out,' says McCudden. In the UK, in 2021, 89% of abortions took place before 10 weeks, with the overwhelming majority of the other 11% falling before 12 weeks. Only 1% take place over 20 weeks. The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists and other medical bodies continue to recommend abortion is provided up until 24 weeks, and beyond that only if there's an exceptional reason, like saving the pregnant person's life. 'Decriminalisation isn't about changing that, it's about saying that the time limit shouldn't be enforced by threatening women, who are often very vulnerable, with prison,' adds McCudden. 'The specific reform that we're backing from MPs right now is a very simple reform which removes the person ending their own pregnancy from criminal law without changing any other aspect of the law or provision. That means anyone providing abortion would still be subject to the same laws, including those which relate to time limits.' 'Abortion is one of the most heavily regulated areas of healthcare, despite being one of the safest and most common,' explains McCudden. 'None of this would change. The only aspect of the law that we are asking to change right now is that women themselves aren't investigated in relation to their own pregnancies. Regulations, time limits, licensing, safety, and safeguarding would remain exactly the same.' The police would be able to investigate people who sell unlicensed or unlawful abortion pills the same way they do now. 'It is extremely rare for anyone to end a pregnancy beyond the medically recommended time limit, and that continues to be true in countries where abortion has been decriminalised, like Canada,' explains McCudden. MSI Reproductive Choices work in 36 countries across the world. '89% of abortions in England and Wales take place under 10 weeks' gestation and only 1% take place over 20 weeks.' In the very rare event that an abortion is necessary to save the life of the pregnant person or if there is a serious risk of a foetal anomaly, abortion is currently legal beyond 24 weeks gestation – this accounts for just 0.1% of all abortion procedures. 'These cases involve extremely difficult decisions, especially for people who find themselves having to decide whether to terminate a wanted pregnancy because of an unexpected health risk,' McCudden explains. As for those who have, in very, very rare cases, ended their own pregnancy beyond the medically appropriate time limit, this is often under incredibly complex circumstances. 'People may not have the full nuance of this from media reports or even court documents,' McCudden explains. 'These can include coercion, trafficking, abuse, and sexual assault and are, unfortunately, not always documented or even recognised by parts of the criminal justice system.' Again, these cases where a woman ends their own pregnancy beyond the medically appropriate time limit, and where this isn't due to saving the life of the pregnant person or serious risk of a foetal anomaly, account for less than 0.1%. 'The idea of encouraging or discouraging an abortion is at odds with the reality of how people make decisions about their reproductive health,' says McCudden. 'If a pregnancy is wanted, why would somebody decide to have an abortion simply because the law has changed? Many factors play a part in why people need or choose an abortion, but I have never heard of a woman deciding to have an abortion purely because it's legal. The abortion rate does not rise when abortion is criminalised, and it doesn't fall when abortion access is restricted. If there's one thing we know from our global work it is that restricting abortion does not stop abortion happening – it simply makes it less safe.' As we have seen from the spike in investigations, prosecutions and new police guidance, this ancient law is being used more and more, in cases that have a profound, lasting and damaging impact on women's lives. This spike has also come at a time when far-right politicians are gaining traction in the UK (Nigel Farage has been quoted in a statement by an American organisation that campaigns to outlaw abortion entirely.) And, while the majority of the country is pro-choice, with 90% of us supporting access to abortion, we cannot underestimate the power (and money) being gained by groups who want to see our rights reversed, like they were in America. They can use this outdated law to help gain power of our bodily autonomy. We can't let their voice, which is the minority, become louder than ours. It's time to speak up. Catriona Innes is Commissioning Director at Cosmopolitan, you can follow her on Instagram. Catriona Innes is Cosmopolitan UK's multiple award-winning Commissioning Editor, who has won BSME awards both for her longform investigative journalism as well as for leading the Cosmopolitan features department. Alongside commissioning and editing the features section, both online and in print, Catriona regularly writes her own hard-hitting investigations spending months researching some of the most pressing issues affecting young women today. She has spent time undercover with specialist police forces, domestic abuse social workers and even Playboy Bunnies to create articles that take readers to the heart of the story. Catriona is also a published author, poet and volunteers with a number of organisations that directly help the homeless community of London. She's often found challenging her weak ankles in towering heels through the streets of Soho. Follow her on Instagram and Twitter.
Cosmopolitan
22-05-2025
- Health
- Cosmopolitan
Meta accused by healthcare charities of blocking abortion content
The tech giant Meta has been accused by abortion providers of limiting their content in the US and Central America. MSI Reproductive Choices (an international non-government agency that provides reproductive healthcare) and Plan C Pills (an information resource helping people with understanding safe, at-home abortions) claims Meta, which owns social media platform Facebook and messaging service WhatsApp, have censored their services. The WhatsApp for Business account of the leading abortion provider in Mexico, Fundación MSI (part of MSI Reproductive Choices), has been suspended, which has led to an immediate 80 per cent drop in people booking appointments. WhatsApp was the primary channel for people seeking reproductive care, with MSI Reproductive Choices now fighting to get the platform reinstated. Abortion was only decriminalised in Mexico in 2023, when the Supreme Court ruled the denial of a termination violated the human rights of women. However, it is still difficult to access safe abortions outside Mexico City. 'MSI is the leading abortion provider in Mexico and trusted by thousands of women every month with their reproductive choices,' Araceli López-Nava, Regional Managing Director for MSI Latin America, told Cosmopolitan UK. 'Yet, Meta has consistently censored our content on abortion, contraception, and sex education, over-implementing its policies to block access to essential information on sexual and reproductive healthcare. 'It was a lifeline for women seeking safe abortion care, and without it, many will have no option but to put their health and lives on the line with an unsafe, backstreet service. In the face of growing attacks on reproductive health and rights, we call on Meta to reinstate our account and support women to make the choices that are right for them.' This is not the first time that Meta has been accused of censoring content relating to women's health. Breast pump advertisements have previously been incorrectly flagged as inappropriate, and posts containing anatomically correct language such as 'vulva' have been deemed as sexual on some instances. In response, a spokesperson for Meta said in a statement: 'The account was banned for breaking our terms – there is a lot of information on our website about what is and is not allowed and the enforcement policies. 'Any business that receives a high rate of negative feedback is given warnings before the account is banned. To reiterate, the team reviewed the ban against the terms outlined on the website and have found it was valid.' Meanwhile, in the States, abortion pills information campaign Plan C has also faced censorship, with Meta suspending their advertising account without warning - disrupting access to medically accurate information. Ten of their educational posts containing information about reproductive health, were also removed from the platform in 24 hours. Data from Plan C shows when they were able to boost content through Meta ads, their reach increased by over a million users per month. 'Big Tech platforms and U.S. policies are fuelling and increasing a global wave of digital suppression that is creating unnecessary and worse health outcomes in every country,' says Matha Dimitratou, a digital strategist for Plan C Pills. 'These decisions are often driven by automated moderation systems that misidentify accurate reproductive health content as 'harmful' or 'sensitive'. Even when reviewed by a human, the appeals process lacks transparency and often upholds flawed decisions. This is a public health and information crisis, and it's putting people's lives at risk.' In response, a spokesperson for Meta told Cosmopolitan UK: 'In the case of Plan C, we investigated this and found we mistakenly removed the content and have now restored all content. We have confirmed that there have been no additional or new issues with the account since earlier this year, and they are now running as normal. 'We want our platforms to be a place where people can access reliable information about health services, such as abortion, advertisers can promote health services, and everyone can discuss and debate public policies in this space. 'That's why Meta allows posts and ads promoting health care services like abortion, as well as discussion and debate around them. Content about abortion, regardless of political perspective, must follow our rules, including those on prescription drugs, misinformation, and coordinating harm.' Women's reproductive rights are facing fresh challenges from anti-abortion groups, particularly in the US. Since the overturning of Roe vs Wade, access to safe abortions have been limited or outright outlawed in several US states. The UK is also facing challenges. The National Police Chiefs' Council has recently issued guidance in the UK telling officers how to search women's phones, menstrual-tracking apps and homes following a pregnancy loss, if they're suspected of having had an illegal abortion. Abortion is still technically illegal in England and Wales, thanks to a law dating back to 1861. To call for urgent reform to abortion laws in England and Wales, Cosmopolitan UK has now joined forces with BPAS, the UK's leading abortion care service, on a new campaign, End 1861. Read all about in more detail, here. Kimberley Bond is a Multiplatform Writer for Harper's Bazaar, focusing on the arts, culture, careers and lifestyle. She previously worked as a Features Writer for Cosmopolitan UK, and has bylines at The Telegraph, The Independent and British Vogue among countless others.
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Vital abortion-related content is apparently being blocked by Meta – potentially putting women at risk
The tech giant Meta has been accused by abortion providers of limiting their content in the US and Central America. MSI Reproductive Choices (an international non-government agency that provides reproductive healthcare) and Plan C Pills (an information resource helping people with understanding safe, at-home abortions) claims Meta, which owns social media platform Facebook and messaging service WhatsApp, have censored their services. The WhatsApp for Business account of the leading abortion provider in Mexico, Fundación MSI (part of MSI Reproductive Choices), has been suspended, which has led to an immediate 80 per cent drop in people booking appointments. WhatsApp was the primary channel for people seeking reproductive care, with MSI Reproductive Choices now fighting to get the platform reinstated. Abortion was only decriminalised in Mexico in 2023, when the Supreme Court ruled the denial of a termination violated the human rights of women. However, it is still difficult to access safe abortions outside Mexico City. 'MSI is the leading abortion provider in Mexico and trusted by thousands of women every month with their reproductive choices,' Araceli López-Nava, Regional Managing Director for MSI Latin America, told Cosmopolitan UK. 'Yet, Meta has consistently censored our content on abortion, contraception, and sex education, over-implementing its policies to block access to essential information on sexual and reproductive healthcare. 'It was a lifeline for women seeking safe abortion care, and without it, many will have no option but to put their health and lives on the line with an unsafe, backstreet service. In the face of growing attacks on reproductive health and rights, we call on Meta to reinstate our account and support women to make the choices that are right for them.' This is not the first time that Meta has been accused of censoring content relating to women's health. Breast pump advertisements have previously been incorrectly flagged as inappropriate, and posts containing anatomically correct language such as 'vulva' have been deemed as sexual on some instances. In response, a spokesperson for Meta said in a statement: 'The account was banned for breaking our terms – there is a lot of information on our website about what is and is not allowed and the enforcement policies. 'Any business that receives a high rate of negative feedback is given warnings before the account is banned. To reiterate, the team reviewed the ban against the terms outlined on the website and have found it was valid.' Meanwhile, in the States, abortion pills information campaign Plan C has also faced censorship, with Meta suspending their advertising account without warning - disrupting access to medically accurate information. Ten of their educational posts containing information about reproductive health, were also removed from the platform in 24 hours Data from Plan C shows when they were able to boost content through Meta ads, their reach increased by over a million users per month. 'Big Tech platforms and U.S. policies are fuelling and increasing a global wave of digital suppression that is creating unnecessary and worse health outcomes in every country,' says Matha Dimitratou, a digital strategist for Plan C Pills. 'These decisions are often driven by automated moderation systems that misidentify accurate reproductive health content as 'harmful' or 'sensitive'. Even when reviewed by a human, the appeals process lacks transparency and often upholds flawed decisions. This is a public health and information crisis, and it's putting people's lives at risk.' In response, a spokesperson for Meta told Cosmopolitan UK: 'In the case of Plan C, we investigated this and found we mistakenly removed the content and have now restored all content. We have confirmed that there have been no additional or new issues with the account since earlier this year. 'We want our platforms to be a place where people can access reliable information about health services, such as abortion, advertisers can promote health services, and everyone can discuss and debate public policies in this space. 'That's why Meta allows posts and ads promoting health care services like abortion, as well as discussion and debate around them. Content about abortion, regardless of political perspective, must follow our rules, including those on prescription drugs, misinformation, and coordinating harm.' Women's reproductive rights are facing fresh challenges from anti-abortion groups, particularly in the US. Since the overturning of Roe vs Wade, access to safe abortions have been limited or outright outlawed in several US states. The UK is also facing challenges. The National Police Chiefs' Council has recently issued guidance in the UK telling officers how to search women's phones, menstrual-tracking apps and homes following a pregnancy loss, if they're suspected of having had an illegal abortion. Abortion is still technically illegal in England and Wales, thanks to a law dating back to 1861. To call for urgent reform to abortion laws in England and Wales, Cosmopolitan UK has now joined forces with BPAS, the UK's leading abortion care service, on a new campaign, End 1861. Read all about in more detail, here. You Might Also Like A ranking of the very best hair straighteners - according to our Beauty Editors Best party dresses to shop in the UK right now 11 products you'd be mad to miss from the Net A Porter beauty sale
The Guardian
09-04-2025
- Health
- The Guardian
‘A skill you need to save a life': the US doctors traveling to Mexico for abortion training
On paper, it should not be difficult for Dr Sebastian Ramos to learn to perform abortions. As a family medicine doctor, Ramos works in a specialty that frequently provides the procedure. He lives in deep-blue California, where it is still allowed. And the administrators running Ramos's residency program – a kind of apprenticeship that US doctors must undergo to become full-fledged physicians – support Ramos's desire to learn how to do it. But over the course of his three-year-long residency, Ramos is guaranteed just three days' worth of training at Planned Parenthood. Residents get to participate in only a handful of abortions. 'That's just not enough if you want to practice abortion care,' said Ramos, who asked to go by a shortened version of his last name to protect his privacy. 'I knew that if I wanted to do this, I needed more experience.' That's why, earlier this month, Ramos traveled to a clinic in Mexico City for two weeks' worth of training in abortion provision. During his first week at the clinic, which is run by the global organization MSI Reproductive Choices and its Mexican arm Fundación MSI, Ramos performed roughly 60 abortions. In the years since the US supreme court overturned Roe v Wade, paving the way for more than a dozen states to ban virtually all abortions, a small but growing number of would-be abortion providers have begun to leave the country in search of an education. In 2023, MSI trained nine American doctors to perform abortions at clinics in Mexico. In 2024, it trained 27. So far this year, it is on track to double that number. 'On one hand, it's a tremendous relief to know that medical students and residents aren't going to have to forego this very important part of their training in their education,' said Pamela Merritt, executive director of Medical Students for Choice. Last year, Merritt's organization helped eight medical students and residents receive abortion training in Mexico and the UK. Merritt continued: 'It's also incredibly sad that in the United States, we are failing to train people even to the standard of care indicated by abortion bans.' Every abortion ban in the US permits abortions to save a patient's life. But without adequate training, doctors may not be skilled enough to perform abortions even in those dire circumstances. Medical schools and residency programs are run by massive hospitals that are heavily dependent on public funding; such institutions tend to be, by nature, leery of anything as controversial as abortion. The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) has required OB-GYN residencies to teach doctors how to perform abortions since the 1990s, but rather than offer training in-house, hospitals have often farmed their residents out to freestanding abortion clinics for training. Even before Roe fell, this system was faulty: a 2019 study found that, despite the ACGME requirement, just 64% of OB-GYN residency programs offered 'routine training with dedicated time' for abortions. Family medicine residents who want to learn to perform abortions face a greater disadvantage, since the ACGME does not require their residency programs to offer any kind of abortion training. Even most OB-GYN residents, program directors reported in the 2019 study, did not achieve what doctors call 'competency' when it came to abortion. Without competency – a qualification that's measured through a melange of doctors' knowledge, skills and attitudes – doctors may not be able to safely perform abortions on their own. Abortion training and competency is now even harder to come by. Since Roe's collapse, more than 100 abortion clinics have shuttered. Those that are left are often besieged by patients fleeing abortion bans, leaving them without the time and space to teach everybody who wants to learn. If an OB-GYN residency program is located in a state that bans abortion, ACGME rules currently dictate that the residency 'must provide access to this clinical experience in a different jurisdiction where it is lawful'. The ACGME declined to respond to a request for information about how many residency programs are currently compliant with its abortion-training requirement, although records show that no OB-GYN programs have lost their accreditation status in the last year. Patricia Lohr serves as the director of research and innovation for the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (Bpas), a UK nonprofit that provides abortions up until about 24 weeks of pregnancy. Lohr trained to become an OB-GYN in the US. 'Having been a resident and a medical student in the United States, I could really see the importance of having access to abortion education that wasn't entirely reliant on what was being delivered within academic training programs,' Lohr said. 'Because often, abortions weren't being provided in those academic hospitals.' When Lohr moved to the UK, she quickly moved to create a two-week training program at Bpas where medical students could learn about abortions and observe – but not perform – the procedure. In the years since Roe fell, that training program has received a surge of applications from American medical students and residents. 'It's a shame that people would have to travel to learn a basic part of women's health care,' Lohr said. 'There are many trainees out there at the moment who would like to obtain abortion skills, but cannot get it locally, and so they get diverted into doing something else.' Lauren Wiener, a New Jersey medical student, had originally planned to travel to Arizona in summer 2022 to learn how to provide abortions. But when Roe's fall led Arizona abortion providers to temporarily stop working, Wiener had to cancel her trip. Instead, she ended up undergoing a week-long training at Bpas last fall. 'It is something that you need to know how to do, because there are emergency situations,' Wiener said of abortions. 'You might not want to electively perform an abortion at 24 weeks, but if someone comes in and they're miscarrying, you need to know how to evacuate that uterus. It's a skill you need to have to save a life.' While training in the US dwindles, the country's increasingly conservative approach to abortion has also put it at odds with much of the rest of the world. Only four countries – including the US – have tightened their abortion laws over the last 30 years, while more than 60 countries and territories have loosened theirs, according to a tally by the Center for Reproductive Rights. Mexico is one of them. In 2023, its supreme court decriminalized abortion nationwide; the procedure is now available in about half of all Mexican states. And providers aren't the only people taking advantage of Mexico's liberalized abortion laws: last year, Fundación MSI provided first-trimester abortions to 62 women from the United States. 'Training, training, training – it is key, to have less danger for actual patients,' said Araceli Lopez-Nava, managing director of MSI Latin America. 'We understand how difficult the situation is becoming in the US, so we're happy to help.' The organization has the capacity to train up to 300 doctors a year to perform abortions, Lopez-Nava estimated. MSI is not, however, a solution for everybody. Would-be trainees need to speak Spanish. And although the organization has in past years trained medical students, MSI's Mexico clinics have started focusing on teaching residents who have already performed 20 abortions. Because residents have already chosen their specialties and secured berths in residency programs – which can be highly competitive – they are more likely to become abortion providers. Training in Mexico can also be pricy, especially since the program does not pay for travel and lodging. Ramos's entire trip cost about $5,000, although a scholarship helped him cover most of the costs. 'It's a way, at least for me, to be exposed to a different medical system, learn from different providers from a different country, exchange knowledge,' Ramos said. 'I feel like I'm being adequately prepared to meet the needs of my patients in the US.'
