Testimony of Erika Boothman, MPH
Medical Student at Ohio State University
Opposing Senate Bill 127
June 24, 2015
My name is Erika Boothman. I am a fourth-year medical student at The Ohio State University
College of Medicine and I am specializing in obstetrics and gynecology. I studied Biology in
undergraduate at the University of Michigan and I hold a Masters in Public Health from Johns
Hopkins University. I have conducted research on life support for premature infants, fertility,
international women’s health, and best practices for intrauterine device insertion after uterine
aspiration.
I am a member of the Ohio State University Medical Students for Choice and I am here to speak
in opposition of Senate Bill 127.
First, let me make it clear that abortions after 20 weeks represent a very small minority of all
abortions in the United States. This bill is targeting a tiny subset – approximately 1% – of all the
women who obtain abortions.1 And who are these women who obtain abortions after 20 weeks?
Some of these women are pregnant intentionally; they have been carrying a wanted pregnancy
for twenty weeks and have found out at their routine anatomy scan, which happens around week
20 of pregnancy, that their fetus has a severe or lethal anomaly. The 20-week anatomy scan is the
first opportunity for physicians to identify many of these anomalies. Forcing women to carry a
nonviable pregnancy for 20 more weeks and then requiring them to labor and deliver an
incredibly sick or already dead infant is cruel.
Some of these women are facing a medical crisis, something that could threaten her life or
fertility. As a future physician, the idea that the legislature would tie my hands and tell me that I
cannot provide the care my patient has decided is best for her and her family is unimaginable. I
went to medical school to be able to provide the best medical care I can to my future patients.
Medical decisions need to be based on science and patient needs, not the whim of a state
legislature.
No, not all women seeking abortion care at 20 weeks are in these situations. Not all the women
obtaining abortions after 20 weeks have had access to prenatal care and routine ultrasounds.
Some of these women are carrying unintended and unwanted pregnancies and have encountered
barriers toward good obstetric care. Studies have found that 20-week bans in other states have
disproportionately affected young women and poor women.2 A recent study concluded that being
unable to terminate an unwanted pregnancy can have negative health consequences for the
woman, including an increased risk for continued domestic violence.3
The second point that I would like to highlight is that this bill relies solely on speculation, not
scientific evidence. The American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, which
represents 90% of U.S. board-certified obstetrician-gynecologists, and the American Medical
Association, the largest association of physicians and medical students in the United States, have
repeatedly cited scientific evidence that fetuses are likely not able to feel pain until the third
trimester, which is well after 20 weeks.4 In a 2010 report, the Royal College of Obstetricians and
Gynecologists stated that fetuses younger than 24 weeks lack key information processing parts of
the brain and are therefore physically unable to feel pain.5
Both organizations have repeatedly emphasized that fetal reflexes are not evidence of pain
perception. One study states clearly, “Neither withdrawal reflexes nor hormonal stress responses
to invasive procedures prove the existence of fetal pain, because they can be elicited by
nonpainful stimuli and occur without conscious cortical processing.” 4
This Bill was invented out of emotion and not science. It interferes with the doctor-patient
relationship and prevents physicians from practicing evidence-based medicine. It would deny
Ohio women access to safe and legal abortion. If enacted into law, this Bill would compromise
my ability to care for my patients and to offer them the best medical care available. I was born
and raised in the Midwest. I intend on practicing in the Midwest, but I want to live in a state that
allows me to make decisions based on the fifteen years of higher education that I will have
obtained, and not on legislature written by nonscientists.
Citations
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Pazol K, Creanga AA, Burley KD, Hayes B, Jamieson DJ. Abortion Surveillance —
United States, 2010. Morbidity & Mortality Weekly Report. Surveillance Summaries.
2013;62(SS-8):1-44.
Foster DG, Kimport K. Who seeks abortions at or after 20 weeks? Perspect Sex Reprod
Health. 2013;45(4):210-218.
Roberts SC, Biggs MA, Chibber KS, Gould H, Rocca CH, Foster DG. Risk of violence
from the man involved in the pregnancy after receiving or being denied an abortion. BMC
Med. 2014;12:144.
Lee SJ, Ralston HJ, Drey EA, Partridge JC, Rosen MA. Fetal pain: a systematic
multidisciplinary review of the evidence. JAMA. 2005;294(8):947-954.
Gynaecologists RCoOa. Fetal awareness; review of research and recommendations for
practice. Report of a working party. 2010.