The American Public Health Association (APHA) has long recognized that access to abortion is a fundamental right and an important component of comprehensive sexual and reproductive health care.1 However, under the guise of trying to protect the U.S. public during the COVID-19 pandemic, a number of states have called this right into question. Some politicians have attempted to exploit the current public health crisis to further prohibit or limit access to abortion care, claiming that it is nonessential and that medical resources and personal protective equipment (PPE) need to be redirected to other medical needs and procedures. It is too soon to measure the public health impact of these new and proposed abortion bans. Indeed, even trying to identify the states in which these bans are in effect is a moving target as many states’ attempts to undermine abortion care have been blocked by litigation that has forced these controversial efforts into the courts. But we can draw on what we know from prior attempts to ban or otherwise limit access to abortion in the United States to anticipate the public health impact of these policies. In this viewpoint, we focus on a well-established body of scientific evidence to identify the potential public health implications of the bans on both the individuals seeking abortions and the clinics that provide this care.

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COVID-19 堕胎禁令及其对公共卫生的影响。

美国公共卫生协会 (APHA) 早就认识到，获得堕胎是一项基本权利，也是全面性和生殖健康保健的重要组成部分。 1 然而，在 COVID-19 大流行期间试图保护美国公众的幌子下，许多州对这项权利提出质疑。一些政客试图利用当前的公共卫生危机进一步禁止或限制获得堕胎护理，声称这是不必要的，医疗资源和个人防护设备 (PPE) 需要重新用于其他医疗需求和程序。现在衡量这些新的和提议的堕胎禁令对公共卫生的影响还为时过早。的确，甚至试图确定这些禁令生效的州也是一个移动目标，因为许多州破坏堕胎护理的企图已被诉讼阻止，这些诉讼迫使这些有争议的努力进入法庭。但我们可以利用我们之前在美国禁止或以其他方式限制堕胎的尝试所了解的情况来预测这些政策对公共卫生的影响。在这个观点上，我们专注于一套完善的科学证据，以确定禁令对寻求堕胎的个人和提供这种护理的诊所的潜在公共卫生影响。但我们可以利用我们之前在美国禁止或以其他方式限制堕胎的尝试所了解的情况来预测这些政策对公共卫生的影响。在这个观点上，我们专注于一套完善的科学证据，以确定禁令对寻求堕胎的个人和提供这种护理的诊所的潜在公共卫生影响。但我们可以利用我们之前在美国禁止或以其他方式限制堕胎的尝试所了解的情况来预测这些政策对公共卫生的影响。在这个观点上，我们专注于一套完善的科学证据，以确定禁令对寻求堕胎的个人和提供这种护理的诊所的潜在公共卫生影响。