The American Medical Women's Association, an organization of women physicians and medical students, values equality for women and equal opportunity for women to achieve their full professional and personal potential. AMWA also has a strong mission to support policies and programs that improve women's health. The Association has high respect for each member and her right to hold whatever moral, religious, and philosophical beliefs her conscience dictates, and to practice her profession and order her personal life accordingly. In light of all those considerations, the American Medical Women's Association has adopted the position that the decision to continue or interrupt a pregnancy belongs to the pregnant woman, in consultation with her physician.
Pregnancy is a major medical event in the life of a woman.
Pregnancy is a condition that involves medical risk for a patient, ranging from minor physical inconveniences to death itself. A pregnancy that is unintended or unwanted carries a greater medical risk for the woman, because neglected prenatal care results in higher rates of pregnancy-related disease and death. A pregnant woman's decision to complete or terminate a pregnancy is a medical issue, to be made in the privacy of the doctor-patient relationship. Every pregnancy taken to term requires high standards of prenatal care to assure the best possible outcome. Every pregnancy interrupted by abortion requires a procedure carried out by the appropriate technique under safe, sterile conditions, which will protect the health and future fertility of the patient.