Tennessee Medical Schools Fear Accreditation Issues From Ban on Abortion Training

Image Credit: Gene Hobbs / CC

The Tennessee Conservative [By Jason Vaughn] –

While some medical professionals continue to claim that negative effects are going to continue to trickle down from the Supreme Court’s recent reversal of Roe v. Wade, Tennessee’s medical schools claim they may not be able to meet accreditation standards if residents are unable to receive training in providing abortions.

Following the Supreme Court’s decision, Tennessee was finally able to enforce a ban on abortions as early as six weeks. The legislation makes it illegal to abort an unborn child who has a detectable heartbeat. It is anticipated that the Tennessee Human Life Protection Act will go into effect sometime in August, issuing a near total ban on abortions.

***Click HERE to support Conservative Journalism in Tennessee. We can’t cover stories like this without your support!***

According to the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education, all OBGYN residency programs must provide medical students with training on abortions, unless residents choose to opt out for “religious or moral objections.” However, with abortion clinics across the state suspending their services, those schools will no longer have facilities in which to provide that residency training.

“That does put their residency program into a very compromising kind of position,” said Dr. Kimberly Looney, a doctor and assistant professor at Meharry Medical College in Nashville. “While your institution cannot participate in abortion care, you still have a charge to educate your residents wholly. I would now think that (medical schools) would now have to extend their residents out to other states and hope that those states can accommodate them.”

Dr. Looney also serves as the chief medical officer for Planned Parenthood of Tennessee and North Mississippi.

The Accreditation Council did issue updated requirements that state that medical programs in states with abortion bans must find a way to provide access to training in a location that does not. If going out of state is not an option, schools must provide training through other means.

Currently, Illinois and North Carolina are the closest states to Tennessee that are still providing abortion clinic services.

Four of the five medical schools in Tennessee have OBGYN programs: East Tennessee State University, Meharry Medical, the University of Tennessee Health Science Center, and Vanderbilt University.

ETSU says they plan to comply with state legislation while also following the accreditation standards set by the Accreditation Council.

“We are still working through this issue,” said Melissa Nipper, director of marketing and communications at ETSU. “The accreditation bodies may possibly have advice for us as the situation develops.”

Vanderbilt issued a statement on June 24 saying they would follow state and federal laws but would also update their policies “to mitigate some of the health care and health equity concerns that are anticipated due to changes in the law.”

The UT Health Science Center “did not have a response” to questions about potential adjustments to their program.

According to Dr. Edward Hills, an OBGYN professor at Meharry Medical, their program features training in procedures for caring for pregnant patients who experience miscarriages, and Hills says that many of the techniques are the same.

“Residents who are interested or who may be coming and willing to provide those services are well-trained here with regard to dealing with the spontaneous immediate abortions, which, of course, were legal and continue to be legal in terms of their management, and management is the same,” stated Hills.

About the Author: Jason Vaughn, Media Coordinator for The Tennessee Conservative  ~ Jason previously worked for a legacy publishing company based in Crossville, TN in a variety of roles through his career.  Most recently, he served as Deputy Director for their flagship publication. Prior, he was a freelance journalist writing articles that appeared in the Herald Citizen, the Crossville Chronicle and The Oracle among others.  He graduated from Tennessee Technological University with a Bachelor’s in English-Journalism, with minors in Broadcast Journalism and History.  Contact Jason at news@TennesseeConservativeNews.com

4 thoughts on “Tennessee Medical Schools Fear Accreditation Issues From Ban on Abortion Training

  • July 25, 2022 at 12:29 pm
    Permalink

    We should ask that the state pass a bill that would make it a Felony for any physician or surgeon, licensed by the state, to perform Gender Reassignment surgery on any minor that is under the age of 18, that is in attempt to alter a person’s gender identity that may not be align with their biological sex at birth.
    This includes: single or double mastectomies on young women; removal of the uterus; the demolition of the musculature of arm or leg or other body part, to make what is not a penis on young women; the removal of the uterus, ovaries, or fallopian tubes of young women; the removal of the testicles, scrotum, or penis of young men; and physical or chemical castration.
    This bill would exempt the male circumcisions.
    This bill would exempt any of these for the treatment of cancer, or for some accident that caused physical injuries, or of other physical disease that would be appropriate.
    We must ban the surgical conversion of our children.
    We must stop the Sadistic Greedy Butchers and put them in Jail.
    Respectfully,
    Mickey White
    Rossville Tennessee 38066

    Reply
  • July 25, 2022 at 9:39 pm
    Permalink

    This is completely false. D & C (dilation and curettage) is a routine procedure for OB/GYNs with many other indications other than elective abortions. D & E (extraction) is for 2nd trimester and while rare could still be performed for missed abortions. Essentially, nothing would change except no more election abortions. Residents would still get plenty of training on D & C’s, an important and common procedure.

    Reply
  • July 25, 2022 at 10:29 pm
    Permalink

    Did not know a doctor had to be Accreditation to preform Murder??

    Reply
  • July 26, 2022 at 11:54 am
    Permalink

    Wow….eye opening article! But, what part of ILLEGAL do these people not understand? The “Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education” is just plain evil! But, the Tennessee legislature should investigate and question U.S. and Tennessee tax payer subsidies of an organization like Meharry Medical especially for even hiring this Dr. Kimberly Looney, the “CMO of Planned Parenthood Tennessee”! Are Tennessee taxpayers are subsidizing Planned Parenthood’s future child murderers? What other laws do they ‘skirt’? What other laws to do they only partially obey?

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *