Dear Neighbor,Last year, Democrats on the Energy and Commerce Committee initiated an investigation into the harmful effects of the Dobbs decision on patients and providers across the country. Last week, the committee released its findings. They are chilling:Providers are seeing sicker patients suffering from greater complications due to delayed care caused by Dobbs;The Dobbs decision has harmed the training of OBGYN residents in restrictive states;Residency applicants are increasingly concerned about the quality of abortion training that programs can offer in restrictive states;Residency directors are finding that restrictions on clinical communication is degrading trust between providers and patients and robbing patients of the ability to make informed decisions about their health;The training of OBGYN residents in protective states has been harmed as programs in those states strain their capacity and resources to help train out-of-state residents from restrictive states;Restrictive state laws are already leading us to a future with a provider workforce less prepared to provide comprehensive reproductive health care;OBGYN residents and program directors are increasingly frustrated, discouraged, and experiencing negative mental health effects in the aftermath of the Dobbs decision;Residency program leaders who participated in the report universally agreed that abortion care is integral to other components of reproductive health care and cannot be eliminated or isolated from residency training;After Dobbs, OBGYN residency applicants more strongly prefer programs in states that permit abortion access; and,A patchwork of state restrictions is leading to disparate systems of reproductive health care, worsening reproductive and maternal health care shortages, and a fractured OBGYN workforce.Perhaps even more frightening than the report's findings, however, are the personal testimonies from doctors and other providers who report that the Dobbs decision has hindered their ability to both properly care for patients and prepare the next generation of doctors for service. Take a look at these excerpts from the report:1. “One residency program director in a Southern restrictive state described a case where a pregnant woman was admitted to the hospital with serious pregnancy complications, but her physicians were prohibited from discussing and providing appropriate medical care. Despite requesting an abortion weeks before the fetus’s viability, ‘her doctor couldn’t talk to her about it; couldn’t tell her she could get it in another state.’ The program director said that every resident that participated in this case had cried and was traumatized because the woman would likely die, and the fetus may not survive due to the delay in appropriate care.”2. “Another resident educator said that their ‘colleagues in [nearby protective states] are inundated with patients from [restrictive states] and the workload has tripled...they’re taking care of everyone from multiple states.’ The caseload in protective states can be overwhelming.”3. “One residency program director said that taking on extra trainees has required extensive after-hours administrative work with no additional resources or financial compensation and has ‘stretched everyone thin.’”4. “One program director said their OBGYN residents and colleagues are ‘terrified’ about risks of criminal prosecution and that ‘we didn’t go to medical school to be lawyers, detectives, or police officers.’”By overturning Roe v. Wade, MAGA Republicans and their allies on the Supreme Court have plunged the country into a reproductive care crisis. Doctors and patients from across America have spoken out, including in the Committee's report, to warn us that we are headed down a dark and dangerous path.I encourage you to read the full report here, and to join me in the fight for reproductive freedom.I am not backing down.As always, my office and I are here to help. If you are a loved one need assistance, please don't hesitate to call us at (703) 256-3071.