Professors at UW-EC, Stout talk reproductive health curriculum in wake of Roe decision

Jun. 28—EAU CLAIRE — Sonja Meiers, UW-Eau Claire's College of Nursing and Health Sciences acting dean, was just beginning nursing school when Roe v. Wade first went into effect.

For decades, the landmark ruling ensured that abortions would remain a constitutionally protected facet of sexual and reproductive health care in the United States.

"For my whole practice life, it has been a given fact," Meiers said.

"But it was not in effect when my mother-in-law was in practice, and she had very different stories about what would occur in terms of abortions that were not legal and done poorly, and those kinds of things."

Now, in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision Friday to overturn the 1973 ruling, Meiers faces the challenge of preparing a whole new generation of nurses for issues many thought were left in the past 50 years ago.

Though Meiers says UW-Eau Claire does not teach nursing students about the abortion process itself, she noted that an important role for nurses is to inform patients of all treatment options and help them to make informed decisions.

Abortion may no longer be legal in most cases in Wisconsin as a result of a 1849 ban on the procedure, but Meiers said this won't stop the university from teaching its nursing students how to discuss all reproductive health care options with patients, if needed.

"Patients under our care have the moral and legal right to self-determination, so they get to decide what care they need, they want to seek, and our job is to educate them, to assist in weighing some of those benefits and burdens and available options — including the choice of no treatment or more treatment," Meiers said.

"We'll continue to educate students that they have a duty to respect the decisions of their patients, including the decisions that are related to sexual health and pregnancy," she added. "'Respect their decisions' does not mean that the nurse must agree to support the particular decision. The nurse also has the right to refuse to participate in certain care based on their ethical grounds as long as patient safety is assured and there's someone to provide that care."

Kevin Doll, an associate professor of human development and family studies at UW-Stout, said he also does not teach about the abortion process, but did note one area of concern in his "Health Care Dilemmas and Decisions for Individuals and Families" class curriculum.

One topic covered in Doll's class is infertility treatment, including in vitro fertilization. Doll, who was interviewed by the Leader-Telegram prior to last week's ruling, said IVF treatments in some states may be put at risk.

"If some states start to define life as a fertilization of an embryo, that could have significant consequences for whether IVF would even be legal in some places or what it would look like," Doll said.

Doll said this is because the majority of fertilized embryos are lost during the IVF process, equating to the "loss of life" under some state's definitions.

Though this is not currently a concern in Wisconsin, and is "certainly" more likely in other states, Doll spoke about the potential consequences of such a scenario in the classroom.

"It means I would probably have to teach more about (IVF treatment) and it would mean, also, that I would take more of a focus at a policy level, less from the family decision-making level."

Meiers agreed, adding that IVF treatments are one of many issues that UW-Eau Claire and UW-Stout will have to consider in the coming months and years as Wisconsin and the nation feel the resulting ripple effects of the Roe v. Wade ruling.

"IVF as a choice, contraception as a choice — those are things that we will be paying attention to," Meiers said. "I can foresee (IVF) being an issue. There are lots of procedures that are used to facilitate pregnancy, and IVF is one of them. We have to look at the implications of the ruling for all kinds of aspects of reproductive health."

Meiers said the university will continue to learn more about how the Roe v. Wade ruling will impact Wisconsin, and will shape any related curriculum from there. Ultimately, she said, balancing ethics and the law will be at the forefront of the university's nursing education principles.