#6 Exploring Abortion Care: Reproductive Justice and Healthcare Professional Training in the Face of Changing Legislation

DNA Dialogues: Conversations in Genetic Counseling Research

Guests include Gina Sanchez to talk about her paper, “Status of abortion curriculum in genetic counseling: Survey of graduate programs and recent graduates in the United States” and Dr. Holly Rankin to discuss her paper, “Termination counseling among US perinatal genetic counselors in the setting of second trimester fetal anomalies.”

Segment 1:

Gina Sanchez, MS, MB(ASCP), CGC is a genetic counselor and Instructor in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences at the McGovern Medical School at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. She received a BS in Zoology from Texas Tech University in 2012, a MS in Molecular Pathology from Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center in 2013, and a MS in Genetic Counseling from The University of Texas Genetic Counseling Program in 2022. Gina provides prenatal genetic counseling services in both English and Spanish at several Houston area clinics. She is a member of the National Society of Genetic Counselors and the Texas Society of Genetic Counselors. Gina's research interests include genetic counseling education and increasing access to genetic counseling care for the Spanish-speaking patient population.

In this segment, we discuss:

- Assessment of the abortion curriculum in genetic counseling graduate programs and the study participants.

- Variability in the amount and types of abortion training across surveyed programs.

- Factors influencing the training provided.

- Greater satisfaction and preparedness among graduates from programs with a dedicated abortion curriculum.

- Notable discrepancies between responses from recent graduates and program representatives.

- Key topics highlighted as important parts of abortion education.

- Variability in clinical training as a barrier to abortion education and potential solutions to standardize this education.

Segment 2:

Dr. Holly Rankin received her undergraduate degree in anthropology, graduating summa cum laude, from the University of California, Los Angeles. She completed her medical education at Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia where she was inducted into the Gold Humanism and the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Societies. Dr. Rankin completed her residency training in Obstetrics and Gynecology at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore. She received the Ryan Program Excellence in Family Planning Award at the end of residency training. Dr. Rankin is excited to be a Complex Family Planning fellow at UC Davis and plans to focus her career on providing abortion and contraceptive specialty care to underserved, rural communities.

In this segment, we discuss:

- The impact of state laws and location on counseling and termination options.

- Differences between genetic counselors and other healthcare providers in handling these cases.

- Balancing patient autonomy with counseling challenges.

- How reproductive justice affects the discussion of termination options, especially with changing abortion laws.

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