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Recent legal challenges to state abortion laws argue that abortion is necessary to protect women’s mental health. This paper reviews the relevant research literature on the relationship between abortion and various mental health outcomes. Despite multiple studies hypothesizing that abortion may be therapeutic for pregnant women with mental health conditions, there are no empirically established mental health benefits of abortion. There is, however, substantial empirical evidence that abortion worsens mental health outcomes for at least some women, particularly those with pre- existing mental health conditions. While the nature and degree of mental health risks from abortion remains a disputed question, we offer some conclusions that find strong support in the existing research literature.

The relevance of the study lies in the contrasting perspectives on the legalisation and decriminalisation of soft drugs beyond their medical applications. Although there is ongoing public discussion over the benefits of legalizing soft drugs, Ukraine’s current legal system does not represent a cohesive strategy. The study aims to conduct a substantiated study of the disadvantages and advantages of the legalisation of soft drugs at the state level, with a forecast of risks associated with the introduction of permissive mechanisms for their use for recreational purposes, and to compare national peculiarities with the positions of legislators of other countries and existing experience in this area. To achieve this goal, the method of analysing approaches and instruments for regulating drug trafficking at the supranational and local levels of different countries.

This article critically examines the ethical dimensions of utilizing Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV)-based First Person Authorization (FPA) for organ donation. While ostensibly designed to uphold patient autonomy, DMV-based FPA raises significant ethical concerns due to its lack of informed consent and limited impact on organ donation rates. Drawing on principles of autonomy, informed consent, and medical ethics, this article argues for a reevaluation of current practices and proposes alternative approaches that prioritize genuine informed decision-making.

Each of us began our existence as a human embryo, and from our embryonic beginnings, we experience continuous development and differentiation throughout life.2 As medical professionals who live out the Hippocratic Oath3, we have a compelling responsibility to the human beings under our care. As medical professionals in Obstetrics and Gynecology, we have a long history of recognizing that both the pregnant mother and the human being in her womb are our patients. “Through quality perinatal care, the specialty promotes the health and well-being of the pregnant woman and her fetus.”4 We have the privilege and responsibility to care for both of them. Our responsibility to care for our youngest patients begins when a new human organism begins.

Induced abortion is defined as a procedure done to end a pregnancy in such a manner as to avoid a live birth ie intentional feticide. Many physicians will encounter patients considering intentional feticide (induced abortion) for various reasons. Such interactions present an opportunity not only to create a lasting bond with the patient, but also to open doors for her to explore possibilities she may not have considered, and thereby enable her to make a life-affirming decision. Given the importance of offering accurate information about induced abortion and continuation of pregnancy, this Guideline provides guidance and resources for the prolife physician encountering an abortion-vulnerable patient.

David C. Reardon, examines the results from the Turnaway Study, by Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Health (AN- SRH), which have widely been represented as definitive proof that women denied access to abortion will suffer severe injury to their health and economic wellbeing. Yet a careful examination reveals that the study is based on a non-random, non-representative sample of women that grossly under-represents the experiences of the majority of women undergoing abortions.

While both induced abortion and natural pregnancy loss have been associated with subsequent mental health problems, population-based studies directly comparing these two pregnancy outcomes are rare. We sought to compare mental health morbidity after an induced abortion or natural loss.

In a recent American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, 900 professors submitted a Special Report calling for reinstating federal protection for abortion. Here, we provide an alternative consensus statement. Induced abortion is not a constitutional right. We, too, value patient autonomy, but autonomy does not allow for causing harm to another human being, in this case, the human fetus. We share concern about maternal mortality in the United States, but evidence shows that induced abortion increases, not decreases, maternal mortality.

The compatibility of mandatory vaccinations with human rights has become a very current issue with the COVID-19 pandemic and the Vavřička ruling by the European Court of Human Rights. This ruling has faced criticism for not conducting examinations related to disease and vaccines based on direct scientific evidence. In this analysis, an assessment will be made based on direct scientific evidence about tetanus and its vaccine.

Mary Harmed, J.D., and Ingrid Skop, M.D., in this article, correct misleading statements in a recent Obstetrics & Gynecology article. No state has an abortion law that is a total ban on abortion. Every state law permits abortion when necessary to save a mother’s life. Texas law does not require an “imminent” risk and allows a doctor to use his “reasonable medical judgment” to determine if an abortion is necessary to prevent a “risk” of maternal death. Similarly, Idaho allows a doctor to use his “good faith medical judgment” to determine when to intervene, without need for “immediacy.”

Ingrid Skop, M.D., et al., in this article, discusses the implications of the U.S. FDA permanently removing the in-person prescribing requirements that previously safeguarded the use of mifepristone/misoprostol medical abortions, allowing prescribing through telemedicine or on-line ordering and distribution through the mail and pharmacies, without standard pre-abortion testing. This will increase the risk of complications due to failure to adequately determine the gestational age or rule out ectopic pregnancy by ultrasound or physical exam, failure to perform labs to document whether RhoGAM is indicated, and failure to obtain appropriate informed consent to prevent unwanted abortions, among other concerns. The FDA justified this action by referencing flawed studies with significantly undercounted complications. The details of these study deficiencies are examined in this article.

In this article, Olena Korolchuk et al. examines state regulation of medical care quality post-COVID and during martial law in Ukraine, identifying areas for improvement. It emphasizes state roles in healthcare standardization, continuous feedback monitoring, and studying patient satisfaction. Interrelationships among Ukraine’s state regulation mechanisms are determined, highlighting the need to enhance tools such as criteria and quality indicators for medical care assurance. The authors utilize various scientific methods, including analysis, synthesis, induction, and deduction, as well as historical and legal, formal legal, and comparative legal methods to examine the state regulation of ensuring the quality of medical care during martial law in Ukraine. The article considers the interrelationships of mechanisms and instruments of state regulation of quality assurance of medical care in Ukraine. It concludes that the state should enhance medical care quality regulation, drawing on international experiences from the EU and the USA and adapting best practices to national circumstances. The resilience of the healthcare system depends on effective quality assurance, ensuring preparedness, stability, and ongoing improvement prospects.