Texas and the Doctor Shortage: An Ethical Crisis for Women and Medicine

Texas laws don’t just harm women as patients—they drive women out of medicine as doctors. The result: deeper shortages, greater risks, and a collapse of trust.

A profession in crisis

Not long ago, I was attending a group of medical students, mostly young women, who talked about their career plans. Several were interested in obstetrics and gynecology. When I asked where they imagined practicing, one said bluntly: “Anywhere but Texas. I won’t work where reproductive freedoms have ben removed and where I cannot pr…