Texas doctor tells Biden students being forced to practice abortions on papayas after Roe v Wade ban
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.A Texas doctor told Joe Biden that medical students were being forced to practice abortions on papayas as an “unintended consequence” of the overturning of Roe v Wade.
Dr Danielle Mathisen, a doctor who studied obstetrics and gynaecology (OB-GYN) at the University of Texas Southwestern in Dallas, explained to President Biden how doctors are often unable to get clinical practice to conduct abortions in states where abortion is now banned or expected to be.
In the NowThis News presidential forum on Monday, Mr Biden appeared shocked. “I didn’t realize that was the case,” he said, when he was told that several Texas schools were not being able to teach proper abortion care to medical students “out of fear that that’s somehow aiding and abetting achieving an abortion”.
“I’m going to check it out in most states. And because it’s very worrisome, that’s an example of what the Dobbs decision is doing,” he said.
Dr Mathisen said that due to Texas’s “negative stance” on abortion, “my colleagues and I needed to create an off-campus after-hours club that allowed us to study the curriculum that wasn’t offered to us”.
Mr Biden said he admired their willingness to get together to teach themselves, but asked: “I’m curious, how do you do that?”
“A papaya is a very good representation of a uterus, and you can practice on the papaya fruit,” she said.
“Gotcha. God love ya,” Mr Biden responded.
More than a dozen US states effectively banned abortion after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade in June.
OB-GYN in residency programmes are required to train students for abortions, according to the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education. With states banning abortions, programmes have had to provide the required training somewhere else.
This has led to many students using the unusual workaround to study.
This article was amended on November 1 2022 to remove an inaccurate reference to abortion being illegal in New Jersey.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments