University of California, San Francisco Offers Free Abortion Class for Medical Students

Carrie Dedrick | Updated: Oct 16, 2014

University of California, San Francisco Offers Free Abortion Class for Medical Students

The University of California, San Francisco is now offering a class that teaches medical students to perform abortions. The class, which began Oct. 13, will last six weeks and will cover abortion care as well as legal obstacles that prevent doctors from performing abortions; the class is offered tuition-free. 

The online course is called “Abortion: Quality Care and Public Health Implications.” Nearly 3,000 students have registered to take the class. 

Dr. Jody Steinauer, a UCSF professor of obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive sciences created the course to give abortion classroom attention; a 2005 study found that less that one third of medical schools teach abortion procedures. 

“Despite its universality, abortion remains controversial and inaccessible for many women,” Steinauer wrote. 

Donna Harrison, executive director of the American Association of Pro-life Obstetricians and Gynecologists, said that many doctors refuse to perform abortions, but not due to lack of education on the procedure. 

“Any OBGYN knows how to empty a uterus at any stage. It’s just that most OBGYNs recognize that there are two patients,” Harrison said.

Publication date: October 16, 2014



University of California, San Francisco Offers Free Abortion Class for Medical Students