Imagine a typical weekday in your local family physician's office. The first patient of the day is there for a skin lesion removal. Next is a patient with high blood pressure. Next is a patient there for an early aspiration abortion. Next, a new mother has an intrauterine device inserted.

Does this seem unusual? Not to me. The American Academy of Family Physicians defines family medicine as, "the medical specialty which provides continuing, comprehensive health care for the individual and family. It is a specialty in breadth that integrates the biological, clinical and behavioral sciences. The scope of family medicine encompasses all ages, both sexes, each organ system and every disease entity."

These are doctors who treat your asthma and help your Dad with smoking cessation. They treat children, the elderly, and adolescents. They treat rashes, flu's, and sports injuries. In other words, they do it all.

And a growing group of these family physicians are also abortion providers. They provide early abortion care to their patients, just as they would provide prenatal care or help making an adoption plan.

They believe that by referring women seeking abortions to other providers, they would be giving women the (wrong) idea that abortion is outside of mainstream healthcare. After all, most abortions take place in the first trimester, and have an extremely low rate of complications. With medication or early aspiration abortions, a simple in-office intervention is possible. For patients, the comfort of receiving care from their regular doctor can ease the anxiety of dealing with an unwanted pregnancy.

What should you know about family medicine and reproductive health?

Family physicians who provide abortions address the shortage of abortion providers, as well as the shortage of primary care providers.

• Eighty-seven percent of all U.S. counties lack an abortion provider.
• Without family physicians, 43 percent of U.S. counties would have fewer than one primary care physician per 3,500 people.

Most family medicine residents are not getting the training they need to provide comprehensive care.

• Recent data showed only 11 out of over 400 family medicine residency programs were willing to be identified as offering opt-out training, where residents receive abortion training as a routine part of the curriculum.
• Religious affiliations of healthcare institutions, difficulty obtaining malpractice insurance, as well as opposition from anti-choice colleagues are just a few barriers that new Family Physicians face even if they receive training before graduation from residency.

Organizations are working throughout the country to help family physicians and other primary care professionals in becoming abortion providers. A few of those taking the lead in Family Medicine include:

• The Reproductive Health Access Project,
• Physicians for Reproductive Choice and Health
• The Abortion Access Project, and
• RHEDI—The Center for Reproductive Health Education in Family Medicine.

Family physicians and advocates supporting this work send an important message that abortion is part of mainstream health care (which it is!). There are so many barriers for women seeking abortions. As we work on removing these obstacles, let's start in the doctor's office.