Impact of the Dobbs Decision on Cancer Care | Margaret Katana Ogongo, PhD, MPH, MA; Beth Karlan, MD; Alexander Melamed, MD, MPH; Nicole Huberfeld, JD; Robin Yabroff, PhD, MBA; Jennifer Zhu, MS

In the summer of 2023, the National Cancer Policy Forum held a series of webinars examining the downstream impacts of the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Supreme Court decision on reproductive healthcare and cancer care. In the wake of Dobbs, states have been empowered to adopt more restrictive abortion regulations, and this, intertwined with the broader issue of uneven Medicaid expansion, creates a complex landscape that impacts healthcare access for many. SGO members Drs. Beth Karlan, Alex Melamed, Monica Vetter, Barbara Goff, and Jolyn Taylor offered insights into how new abortion restrictions affect gynecologic cancer patients, the cancer care workforce, and health systems.

One key issue identified is how geography, Medicaid income eligibility, and novel abortion laws interact. Medicaid expansion may mitigate some disparities arising from potential abortion restrictions. Conversely, Medicaid non-expansion states overlap significantly with abortion-restrictive states after Dobbs, amplifying existing barriers to comprehensive healthcare, especially for individuals with low incomes.

Clinicians in neighboring states with less restrictive laws are seeing unprecedented demand for abortion services from individuals seeking out-of-state care. The Care Post Roe Dobbs Impact Study is encouraging clinicians to submit de-identified stories to describe how patient care has been affected by the changing reproductive healthcare landscape.

The webinar series can be accessed from The National Cancer Policy Forum website, and the National Academies’ continues to evaluate the health, social, and economic implications of access to reproductive health care in the United States and globally through the Standing Committee on Reproductive Health, Equity, and Society.

[Image #1] US map showing Medicaid expansion and non-expansion states and US map showing restrictive and protective states

Webinar Series Participants:

Karen Basen-Engquist, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center

I. Glenn Cohen, Harvard Law School

Beth Karlan, University of California, Los Angeles

Barbara Goff, University of Washington

Julie Gralow, American Society of Clinical Oncology

Lisa Harris, University of Michigan

Nicole Huberfeld, Boston University

Reshma Jagsi, Emory University

Kim Mutcherson, Rutgers University

Lisa Schlager, Facing Our Risk of Cancer Empowered

Courtney Schreiber, University of Pennsylvania

Kayte Spector-Bagdady, University of Michigan

Banu Symington, Memorial Hospital of Sweetwater County

Jolyn Taylor, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center

Monica Vetter, Baptist Health Kentucky

Robin Yabroff, American Cancer Society

Ruqaiijah Yearby, Ohio State University

Webinar Series Planning Group:

Robin Yabroff, American Cancer Society (Co-Chair)

Karen Basen-Engquist, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center (Co-Chair)

Julie Gralow, American Society of Clinical Oncology

Roy Herbst, Yale University

Nicole Huberfeld, Boston University

Beth Karlan, University of California, Los Angeles

Alex Melamed, Massachusetts General Hospital

Kayte Spector-Bagdady, University of Michigan