Tony Yang, associate professor in the Department of Health Administration and Policy, first-authored a commentary on the implications of a 2015 ruling by the Iowa Supreme Court, which struck down a restriction preventing physicians from using telemedicine to administer medication abortions. The commentary appears in a high-impact ob/gyn journal, Obstetrics & Gynecology, also known as the “Green Journal.”
Yang and his co-author, Katy B. Kozhimannil of the University of Minnesota School of Public Health, argue that the court’s decision has broader implications for telemedicine beyond the potential effects on abortion access. The interplay between telemedicine policy, abortion politics, and the science of medicine is at the heart of the court’s decision and has meaning beyond Iowa’s boarders for reproductive-age women across the United States. Read the full commentary.