TERMINOLOGY & RESOURCES
What does abortion mean? A New York Times article says even the word itself is up for debate and offers a discussion of the semantics of abortion.2 The ACR Reproductive Health Initiative has guidelines and resources to assist shared decision making on a range of contraception options and medical management to control disease before, during and after pregnancy.
“There are numerous medications that can be used successfully in pregnancy, but we have to know about this [intention to become pregnant] and be able to plan, and we won’t know until we ask,” says Dr. Edens.
Dr. Ramsey-Goldman also says that preconception planning is key to maximizing health outcomes for both the mother and child. For all patients, controlling disease is essential. For both patients with active disease and those taking fetotoxic medications, counseling patients to use a highly effective contraceptive is critical to avoid pregnancy. For patients who want to become pregnant, it is important they do so when their disease is inactive and controlled on medications recommended for use during pregnancy.
Mary Beth Nierengarten is a freelance medical journalist based in Minneapolis.
References
- Zernike K. What does ‘abortion’ mean? even the word itself is up for debate. The New York Times. 2022 Oct 18.
- Wisconsin’s 1849 ban allows only life-saving ‘therapeutic abortions’—no one knows what that means. Wisconsin Watch. 2022 Aug 31.
- Losavio K, Nusbaum J. Challenges in reproductive health in rheumatic disease. The Rheumatologist. 2022 Jul 11.
- Bermas BL, Blanco I, Blazer AD, et al. Overturning Roe v. Wade: Toppling the practice of rheumatology. Arthritis Rheumatol. 2022 Dec;74(12):1865–1867.
- Starzyk K, Hoffman V, Su Z, et al. More than half of patients with a rheumatic disease or immunologic condition undergoing methotrexate treatment reside in states in which the overturning of Roe v. Wade can jeopardize access to medications with abortifacient potential. Arthritis Rheumatol. 2023 Feb;75(2):328–329.
- Castronuovo C. Many female arthritis drug users face restrictions after Dobbs. Bloomberg Law. 2022 Nov 14.
- Cantrell J, Saag KG. The ACR responds to impact of the Dobbs v. Jackson decision on rheumatology patients and providers. The Rheumatologist. 2022 July 13.
- Clayton EW, Embi PJ, Malin BA. Dobbs and the future of health data privacy for patients and healthcare organizations. J Am Med Inform Assoc. 2022 Dec 13;30(1):155–160.
