RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Ethical challenges for women’s healthcare highlighted by the COVID-19 pandemic
JF Journal of Medical Ethics
JO J Med Ethics
FD BMJ Publishing Group Ltd and Institute of Medical Ethics
SP medethics-2020-106646
DO 10.1136/medethics-2020-106646
A1 Bethany Bruno
A1 David I Shalowitz
A1 Kavita Shah Arora
YR 2020
UL http://jme.bmj.com/content/early/2020/10/11/medethics-2020-106646.abstract
AB Healthcare policies developed during the COVID-19 pandemic to safeguard community health have the potential to disadvantage women in three areas. First, protocols for deferral of elective surgery may assign a lower priority to important reproductive outcomes. Second, policies regarding the prevention and treatment of COVID-19 may not capture the complexity of the considerations related to pregnancy. Third, policies formulated to reduce infectious exposure inadvertently may increase disparities in maternal health outcomes and rates of violence towards women. In this commentary, we outline these challenges unique to women’s healthcare in a pandemic, provide preliminary recommendations and identify areas for further exploration and refinement of policy.