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Many Abortion Clinic Workers Nearing Retirement Age, Look To New Generation Of Women To Take Over

Many women who provide abortion counseling and other services at clinics across the U.S. are nearing retirement, raising questions about whether younger women will take their places at the clinics, the New York Times reports. Sally Burgess, chair of the National Abortion Federation and executive director of the Hope Clinic for Women, said, "We worry about that a lot. Younger women have always had access to abortion care, they don't fully appreciate the battle that was fought to have it available to them. And more important, I don't think they know how precarious the option is at this point, even with Obama's election." She added, "What I observe for women in their 20s and 30s -- there are fewer who really have the fire in the belly for this."

According to a survey published in the journal Contraception, 64% of doctors at 273 abortion clinics in the U.S. were at least age 50 and 62% were men. Abortion clinics provide about 94% of abortions, according to a study in Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health.

Although it is not difficult to find younger doctors and other staff to work at clinics in large urban areas, the same is not true in rural areas, smaller Midwestern cities, Southern states and more conservative areas of the country, Kelli Conlin, president of NARAL Pro-Choice New York, said. Issues such as lower pay and safety can be obstacles to attracting people to work in clinics.

Those working in abortion clinics usually have lower salaries than their counterparts working in other health facilities, partly because providing abortions has a smaller revenue stream than other medical areas. According to Rachel Jones, a senior researcher at the Guttmacher Institute, the average cost for a first-trimester abortion was $413 in 2006. Ruth Arick, an abortion care consultant, said, "At many clinics, fees have not changed much since the mid-1970s. The cost was $175 then and I can still find you an abortion for that price in Detroit and Miami." Arick added, "People running these clinics have brains wired for social work and social justice even though they're in the medical business." Clinic workers also must deal with protesters and picketers.

Working at an abortion clinic also can affect workers' personal lives. Tina Welsh, who helped found the Women's Health Center in Duluth, Minn., said, "I never wanted to be political, but for the clinic to survive, I had to know all the legislators from our area. They can make or break you." Burgess said, "You work in abortion, it will affect who you will date, the parties you will be invited to" (Winerip, New York Times, 3/8).

Reprinted with kind permission from http://www.nationalpartnership.org. You can view the entire Daily Women's Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery here. The Daily Women's Health Policy Report is a free service of the National Partnership for Women & Families, published by The Advisory Board Company.