KFF Health News (11/13/24) Varney, Sarah

A new training program from the University of Maryland School of Medicine and the University of Maryland-Baltimore aims to increase the familiarity and competence of healthcare professionals with regard to reproductive healthcare skills, including medication abortion, procedural abortion, and highly effective birth control methods. Mary Jo Bondy, associate dean of the School of Graduate Studies at the University of Maryland-Baltimore, who helped create the new training program, notes the importance of expanding the number of healthcare providers with such skills outside of urban areas. The Abortion Care Access Act, passed by Maryland legislators in 2022, expands the scope of medical care, including abortion, that can be provided by nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and certified nurse-midwives — and Bondy says the training program "prioritized that group." She notes these types of medical professionals have provided abortions to clients in rural areas of other states for years, saying "we have proof that receiving this care from an advanced practice clinician is safe." Over the next 2 years, as many as 120 healthcare providers will receive training.

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