Anti-abortion politicians have received more than $1 million in funding from the political action committee (PAC) of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), researchers found.

The premier professional organization for ob/gyns in the U.S with more than 60,000 members, ACOG runs Ob-GynPAC, which gave over $3.3 million to federal legislators according to publicly available data from the Federal Election Commission spanning January 1, 2012 to June 30, 2022, reported Benjamin Brown, MD, MS, of the Alpert Medical School of Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, and colleagues.

Over $1.2 million of this money went to supporting anti-abortion candidates. Of the 294 politicians who received support form Ob-GynPAC, 116 were anti-abortion and 70 of those were also anti-Roe. Over 60% were pro-abortion access, according to a research letter by Brown’s group in JAMA Network Open.

“Since [ACOG] consistently states that abortion is essential healthcare in its clinical guidance and public statements, we wanted to see whether the money spent by ACOG’s political action committee was going to legislators who share this fundamental policy priority,” Brown told MedPage Today.

“ACOG has consistently affirmed that abortion is essential for decades,” Brown said. “However, as we conclude in the paper, the fact that ACOG has spent over $1.25 million on anti-abortion access legislators in the last decade suggests that ACOG’s political donations may be undermining its stated commitment to abortion access and patient autonomy.”

Last summer, the Supreme Court overruled the 1973 landmark Roe v. Wade decision establishing the right to abortion. Since then, large swaths of people — including pregnant people and medical trainees — have been affected as states limit access to abortion and contraceptive care.

Brown said that in this post-Roe world, it’s vital for healthcare workers and associations to advocate for patient care — including abortion: “I hope our paper will help to spark a renewed conversation about how professional organizations stand up for our patients — within ACOG, within the field of ob/gyn, and within healthcare writ large.”

Brown and colleagues said that their “serial cross-sectional study revealed no substantial evidence that an Ob-GynPAC donation was associated with a shift from an anti-abortion access position to a pro-abortion access position.” In the decade-long study period, only five legislators changed their position on abortion and only one made the switch from anti- to pro-abortion access.

“Of course, abortion is not the only issue of importance to obstetricians and gynecologists. For example, Medicaid expansion and protecting research funding are also key legislative priorities for ACOG. However, our data indicate that ACOG may be undermining its stated commitment to abortion access and patient autonomy by supporting legislators whose agendas run contrary to the priorities of ACOG,” they wrote.

In an emailed statement to MedPage Today, ACOG wrote that the Ob-GynPAC works across political party lines.

“Ob-GynPAC is bipartisan and supports candidates who share our priorities on topics that are vital to obstetrician–gynecologists and their patients. Key priorities include improving maternal health, protecting the patient–physician relationship, ensuring access to health care and creating a more sustainable practice environment for our members,” the ACOG statement said.

“We help legislators from both parties understand the issues that are important to our members and emphasize and clarify why they should support policies that ensure access to the full spectrum of reproductive health care, including abortion,” ACOG continued.

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