Trends in the Use of Emergency Medical Services for Reproductive Emergencies in the United States

Abstract

Following the 2022 Supreme Court ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, access to reproductive healthcare has become increasingly fragmented. With this decreased access comes potentially increased risk of reproductive complications requiring emergency medical treatment. This cross-sectional descriptive study used data from the National Emergency Services Information System from 2019 and 2023 to compare EMS activations for reproductive complaints before and after the Dobbs ruling. For both years, reproductive complaints were most common among Black/African American patients. Such complaints were also most common in the South Census Region, with the West South Central division having the largest increase in proportion of reproductive activations with abortion-related complaints, as identified using ICD-10 codes. In tandem with other research, these results point toward a greater need to prepare EMS providers to care for reproductive emergencies.