Pittsburgh nurses say overturning Roe will endanger patients, increase burnout

About half a dozen nurses gathered Tuesday outside of West Penn Hospital in Bloomfield to decry the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, essentially making abortion illegal in several states.

Pennsylvania still allows abortions up to 24 weeks into pregnancies and will continue at least through 2022 as Gov. Tom Wolf has vowed to veto any abortion restriction laws. However, surrounding states like Ohio and West Virginia have severe restrictions that are likely to take full effect soon. West Virginia’s only abortion clinic shut down last week.

Jean Fitzgibbons works as a nurse practitioner in the Women’s Health section at Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh’s North Side. She said she has worked at Planned Parenthood abortion clinics in the past, and added that the work there was just as rewarding as nursing.

She said she expects to see the Pittsburgh region experience increases in patients seeking reproductive healthcare following the ruling.

“We have seen in the past that abortions don’t go away if there are restrictions, they just become less safe,” said Fitzgibbons.

She said abortion bans in surrounding states will exacerbate staffing shortages and burnout issues among Pittsburgh nurses. Pittsburgh hospitals have struggled to fill nurse positions over the years, and local nurses and hospital staff have had to take on more responsibility without adequate staffing, especially during higher patient volumes during the pandemic.

“We are going to see an influx of people seeking reproductive care,” said Fitzgibbons.

A recent University of Pittsburgh survey said 93% of Pittsburgh hospital workers are considering leaving the health care industry, citing short staffing, burnout, and lack of adequate pay and benefits.

Jessica Jack has been a labor and delivery nurse for 10 years. She works at West Penn Hospital said that her experience showed her that patients seeking abortions only come to that decision after exhausting all other options.

“This decision never comes as an easy one,” said Jack.

She said overturning Roe is going to make the jobs of Pittsburgh nurses harder and more stressful.

“This is going to make an impossible job even harder. We’re already understaffed, and it affects everyone not just those seeking abortion care,” Jack said. “ When there are more patients in need of care than healthcare workers to care for them.”

Fitzgibbons said this year’s election will be monumental in terms of abortion access in Pennsylvania. She endorsed Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, in the governor’s race, citing his commitment to protect abortion rights in the state. Shapiro’s opponent Doug Mastriano, a Republican state senator, has said that he believes life begins at conception and he would prefer a ban on abortion without exceptions for rape, incest or medical emergencies that endanger the life of the mother.