Institutional Support for Ob-Gyns

October 3, 2025

Ob-gyns are committed to providing exceptional obstetric and gynecologic care to their patients and to combatting barriers that impact access to that care. These barriers can take the form of mis- and disinformation, ideological or viewpoint-based attacks on evidence-based care, and legislative or regulatory interference. Ob-gyns continue to navigate the practice of medicine amid legislation limiting or restricting evidence-based care, ideology-based disinformation, threats of criminal or civil prosecution as well as professional liability from law enforcement, activists, and others who would limit access to care. Hospitals, health systems, and other medical institutions have an obligation to support and defend their employed and affiliated ob-gyns against biased, undue, and inflammatory attacks, and should assist their clinicians to provide evidence-based care to the full extent of the law. It is imperative that clinicians have clear, constructive guidelines that empower them to speak out against the ongoing erosion of access to essential obstetric and gynecologic care, advocate for the future sustainability of the ob-gyn profession, and communicate accurately with their patients about the impact of local, state, and federal laws and policies on their ability to provide care. These internal policies should also address how medical institutions will respond on behalf of their employed and affiliated ob-gyns to defend them from legal proceedings and other ongoing threats or attacks related to the provision of evidence-based medical care.

Ob-gyns must be able to provide the evidence-based care that their patients need without fear of unfounded criminal or civil lawsuits or negative impacts on their professional licenses or immigration status. For example, clinicians must be able to counsel pregnant patients on the safety profile of vaccines and provide the full complement of approved vaccines as recommended by competent authorities to their patients without threats of legal or professional penalties or attacks on their ethics or integrity. Likewise, ob-gyns must be able to provide evidence-based care and counseling to their patients that reflect the current state of the science, including about topics like use of specific medications during pregnancy, without fear of professional liability. And they must be able to provide reproductive health care, including abortion care during obstetrical complications or other medical indications, without fear of criminal or civil prosecution. Medical institutions should encourage and empower their employed and affiliated ob-gyns to provide the best medical care available to the fullest extent of the law and should ensure that their clinicians have access to legal representation and defense if attacked for providing that care.

Ob-gyns have a unique and essential voice in the public discourse and, as such, are regularly called upon or personally motivated to provide evidence-based, medically accurate, unbiased perspectives about important topics related to obstetric and gynecologic care. The information, expertise, and experiences our members share in these situations are pivotal to the public’s understanding of how certain policy, legal, regulatory, and other changes affect patient access to care or the delivery of obstetric and gynecologic care. We are grateful for their tireless advocacy on behalf of their patients and to advance access to comprehensive health care.

Institutional policies should cover and protect the ability of ob-gyns to speak transparently with patients about the full range of evidence-based health care available. Medical institutions must provide strong and uncompromising support for ob-gyns to counsel patients ethically and comprehensively.

ACOG recognizes that being able to speak openly and transparently is part of our members’ ethical obligation as ob-gyns and is directly related to the trust that is a fundamental part of the patient–physician relationship. With support from their institutions, ob-gyns can be better empowered to productively join the public discourse and to counsel their patients appropriately in the face of restrictive laws.

Approved by the Board of Directors: November 2024
Updated: September 2025