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Elizabeth Lanphier, Assistant Professor of Philosophy and Bioethicist, University of Cincinnati

Abortion restrictions put hospital ethics committees in the spotlight – but what do they do?

Ethics decisions are among the hardest hospital staff need to make. Thomas Barwick/Stone via Getty Images

Many states have imposed sweeping restrictions that all but ban abortion since the June 2022 Supreme Court ruling that overturned the 50-year-old constitutional right to the procedure. These laws have created new obstacles for pregnant patients facing life-threatening complications like severe fetal anomalies, cancer diagnoses and ectopic pregnancies – when a fertilized egg implants outside the uterus.

Some media reports about these challenging cases mention the involvement of hospital ethics committees.

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