Iowa doesn't have enough OB-GYNs. Is the state's abortion ban part of the problem?
toggle caption Natalie Krebs/Iowa Public Radio
Jonna Quinn was initially thrilled when she got her first job after residency, working as an OB-GYN in Mason City, Iowa. It was just an hour down the road from her hometown of West Bend, where she grew up on a farm.
This story was produced in partnership with KFF Health News.
But the hospital started restricting certain birth control options and fertility treatments based on its affiliation with the Catholic church, she said. At the same time, her unit was becoming increasingly short-staffed as other obstetricians left and retired.
At one point, Quinn said she was seeing up to 50 patients a day.
"That is twice what a normal OB-GYN will see in a day," she said. "I knew I was going to miss something, because there's no way somebody can function at that level."
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Last spring, Quinn decided to leave -- not just Mason City, but Iowa entirely.
At the time, the state supreme court was on the verge of approving a la
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