The lack of abortion training is a critical contributing factor to the lack of abortion access.  Despite a range of initiatives to address the lack of training, many with different approaches and capacity, abortion training can be both difficult to find and obtain for clinicians.

"As a family medicine resident, the doors to this mysterious world of reproductive health are closed. Connecting with AAP has opened these doors and introduced me to a community of supporters," notes Leslie Strickland, a medical resident who recently worked with AAP to become trained in abortion.

AAP first met Dr. Leslie Strickland as part of our work in Wisconsin, where Leslie is currently completing her residency in family medicine. AAP triaged Leslie's training needs, connected her with AAP's close partner organization, the Midwest Access Project, and provided financial support for Leslie's time in Chicago, the site of her training.

Melanie Zurek, Executive Director, and Courtney Jackson, Director of Research and Evaluation, recently teamed up to discuss to the use of the abortion rate by blog in The Abortion Reduction Agenda: What Smells? Responding to recent calls to establish ‘common ground' around lowering the abortion rate, Melanie and Courtney unpacked what the rate does and does not reveal about women's reproductive health. They point out:

"We are limited in our understanding of what current abortion rates mean.  Does a low abortion rate mean that women aren't having unintended pregnancies? Or is it because they can't - or are too afraid or ashamed to - get the abortion they would choose otherwise?  Common sense would suggest that the current multitude of anti-abortion laws might indeed be preventing some women from having abortions - this is, after all, their intent. Examining state differences in abortion rates also provides some insight into what "low" and "high" abortion rates might mean.  In 2005, New York had the highest abortion rate (38.2 abortions/100,000 women 15-44) and Wyoming the lowest (.7).  What does this mean? Do Wyomingites use contraception more consistently and effectively? Or, do they have difficulty accessing abortion because there are only two providers in the entire state (compared to New York's 261)? It is impossible to view Wyoming's low rate as success without concern that women who need abortion care can't access it."