Does the issue of abortion in social networks need new regulations?
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(CNN) --
After the US Supreme Court overturned the Roe v.
Wade, medical professionals across the country are using their TikTok accounts to show their support and offer help to obstetricians and gynecologists who may face increased demand for abortion care in states where the procedure remains legal.
To the beat of a song by The Chainsmokers with the lyrics "if we go down, then we go down together" (if we fall, we fall together), professionals from all fields of Medicine are listing their skills that can help in this matter .
Dr. Pamela Mehta, an orthopedic surgeon in California, said she was not surprised by the court's decision, but "it felt like an unexpected blow in that this made it official that we have literally gone back in time and our own daughters have fewer rights than our mothers and grandmothers have.
"I feel powerless as a doctor": From an Alabama abortion clinic after Roe v.
Wade
Mehta posted the first of a series of videos on the social network shortly after the decision was announced.
Mehta believes that health care has been in crisis in recent years with the pandemic and now with the Roe decision.
Everyone has to help each other, she said, and while she doesn't perform abortions herself, she has skills that could help other providers.
"I know how to operate, I know how to help with surgery. I can stitch up incisions, I can scrub floors, I can bring coffee to my OB-GYN colleagues, and I thought, 'What can I do to help my OB-GYN colleagues?'" So that's what made me post that video, because I've seen a lot of videos of non-professionals offering their homes and a safe space to come to and I thought, 'Well, what is the ability I can give to gynecologists- obstetricians and patients?' And that's the skill set I can offer."
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Mehta's video was soon joined by one from Dr. Betsy Grunch, a neurosurgeon from Georgia.
"I saw Pam's video and I talked to her and we wanted to collaborate on a combined video to try to express, you know, our support for not only women, but also our medical community and how we can try to express how we care about them. and how we're there for them and how we can support women's health and, you know, just represent our belief that we all need to be supportive during this time," Grunch said.
Other medical professionals joined the trend, such as Hayley Wombles, a traveling nurse from Illinois;
Lauren, a certified nurse anesthetist from Alabama, and Jess, who claims to be a former nurse currently working in clinical research in Ohio.
Grunch says hundreds of duets have been made from his video.
All of the health workers CNN spoke with are offering their skills to help their colleagues in states where abortion is still legal.
Abortion rights in the US: how it compares to other countries in Latin America and the rest of the world
But experts say it's unclear whether they could face legal risk in their home states.
In Connecticut, state attorney and representative Matt Blumenthal sponsored a bill designed to protect people who provide an abortion or receive support to obtain the procedure in the state and are then sued in another state.
"It would depend on the circumstances, but it certainly can happen," he said, about whether health workers could face legal trouble in their home states.
"Although it is clear that states have the power to impose liability for conduct that occurs outside their limits, it is not clear how far that power goes or all the circumstances that determine whether it has that power in a specific case," he said.
Rachel Rebouché, interim dean of Temple University School of Law, said current abortion laws "are not directed at patients or the people helping them right now," but there is a chance that states can use civil penalties to target out-of-state providers who perform legal abortions.
"It's an area that changes very quickly," Rebouché added.
Broader concerns for the future
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) said it had not reviewed any of the videos posted on TikTok but supports expanding the types of doctors who can provide abortion services.
"People are already having to leave their communities to access care, because access is already limited for many people, and we expect this to get worse," ACOG member Dr. Nisha Verma said in a statement.
"Overturning Roe will further restrict abortion for people across the country, especially our most marginalized populations, so it will be critical that we expand the pool of physicians who provide safe and secure abortion care." Enabling advanced clinicians to provide abortion care will allow us to meet the needs of more patients safely and effectively with high rates of patient satisfaction."
One concern shared by health care workers interviewed by CNN is the overburdening of providers in states that still allow abortion.
"I follow a lot of medical professionals on TikTok and it was inspiring for me to see so many of them with an attitude of, 'Hey, we know a number of states that are still allowing medical abortions are going to be overwhelmed,'" Wombles said.
Myths about abortion and women's mental health are widespread, experts say
The TikTok video was their way of saying that they will be there to help, to go to any clinic, to learn whatever it takes, and that they are there to support, he said.
"I posted that video because there's going to be overwhelming demand in states that still offer the procedures and they're going to need help, they're going to need anesthesia, they're going to need surgeons, they're going to need ancillary staff," said Lauren, who agreed to speak with CNN on the condition that his last name not be published, to protect his privacy.
"It's going to be overwhelming."
In states where abortion is now illegal, people are losing hope, he said.
"I wanted to remind you that health professionals are not here to ask or judge. We are here to defend our patients and assist them in whatever they need. And I want you to know that we, as medical professionals, will be there and will do everything possible for them to continue to have access," said Lauren.
Concern for the health of patients
In addition to providers being overworked, health professionals told CNN they fear that people will try unsafe abortions and that maternal mortality will rise in the United States.
Health care experts told CNN they fear a blanket abortion ban could worsen America's maternal mortality crisis, saying reducing access by closing clinics, setting early gestational limits or outright bans of the procedure can lead to more pregnancy-related deaths.
According to a 2021 fact sheet from the World Health Organization (WHO), some 73 million induced abortions occur globally each year.
The WHO states that, each year, between 4.7% and 13.2% of maternal deaths can be attributed to unsafe abortions.
Although the problem is worse in developing regions, the WHO estimates that 30 women die for every 100,000 unsafe abortions in developed regions.
The United States sees a continuing rise in maternal deaths and inequality, according to a CDC report
Jess, who, like Lauren, did not want her last name disclosed, is concerned about maternal mortality.
"My main concern is that the United States has the highest maternal mortality rate of any developed country, and it greatly affects the Afro-descendant and indigenous community. It affects them disproportionately," he said.
"For me, this is a decision [of the Supreme Court] that is from a very privileged point of view, it is from a decision that you know, it is based on the beliefs of someone who should not be imposed on others."
Civil and reproductive rights groups have said the decision to vacate the Roe v.
Wade is an attack on communities of color and will leave millions of black and brown women without access to abortion care.
Maternal mortality rate rises in black women, says study 0:54
An overwhelmingly positive response
The five medical professionals reported receiving an overwhelmingly positive response to the videos they posted online.
"The comments I've read [on his current posts] have been very supportive," Jess said.
"Just saying thank you, and I think it's giving the public a general sense that, especially women, a lot of us are with them and a lot of us are fighting and a lot of us understand that it's a woman's choice."
He has received some negative responses from people with different opinions, but decided not to respond to them.
Grunch said that while he hoped people on both sides of the issue would react to his video, the response has been overwhelmingly positive.
"It's really inspiring to see people so motivated to support us," he added.
"I think in our country we're known for responding to decisions like this with violence, with, you know, anger, and the beauty of the response was really sincere."
Like Jess and Grunch, Mehta said the response to her video has been overwhelming.
After posting the video of her, she said there has been "a whole flood" of women in health from across the United States who have said they are going to help in any way they can.
"The response has been an overwhelming feeling of solidarity, compassion and togetherness," Mehta said.
"It's been overwhelming, overwhelmingly supportive and positive. And the OB/GYN community is, you know, the doctors over there saying, 'Thank you so much for this.' They support us and we count on their support".
--Carma Hassan of CNN Health contributed to this report.
AbortionRoe vs.
Wade