AI Abortion Training Has Arrived: New Tech Tools Are Blurring the Line Between Health and Politics
Artificial Intelligence (AI) aspiring medical professionals at a Texas university now have the tools to navigate the complexities of pregnancy and abortion — a development that further blurs the lines between technology, politics and health care.
A group of medical students at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston recently created an AI-powered simulation of a pregnant patient that the next generation of health professionals can use to interpret various maternal health situations, including miscarriage.
New technology allows users to engage in comprehensive pregnancy counseling in Texas while avoiding potential consequences state restrictions on abortion.
For Fox News Digital that while this type of technology is not without controversy or political discourse, it could provide much-needed innovation and help a healthcare system with significant deficiencies.
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Texas medical students have developed new artificial intelligence tools to help women with various pregnancy options, including abortion. (Jan Woitas/image alliance via Getty Images/iStock)
“I mean, I think it’s getting attention, because abortion as an issue is getting attention,” Sharma said. “But I think it’s actually really interesting to think about how small a part of the whole AI conversation is actually within health care, and women’s health in particular.”
Sharma noted that 20 to 30 percent of pregnancies result in miscarriage or loss—with 80% of these complications occurring within the first trimester. She emphasized that abortions are not always optional, and she believes it’s fair to look at these tools more holistically as a type of care for people experiencing loss—regardless of the underlying reasons.
“It’s a bit like CPR, isn’t it? I mean, it’s a technology that saves lives in many ways, and we want to make it ubiquitously available and in as many places as possible that people can find themselves in a medical emergency, and we want people be widely available I’m not saying it’s necessarily for abortion care, but the general idea is that we’re really trying to train more people in more places you know. signs and scenarios and be able to respond,” she said.
Sixty-five percent of third-year medical students surveyed about Texas AI tools said they felt more comfortable during consultations and were better prepared to work with real people. However, other students said the AI model failed to accurately simulate the emotional reactions of human patients, according to Politico.
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A visitor looks at an AI (artificial intelligence) sign on an animated screen at the Mobile World Congress (MWC), the largest annual gathering of the telecom industry, in Barcelona. (JOSEP LAGO/AFP via Getty Images)
Dia Kooper, the student who led the project, told the publication that she felt inspired to create the AI training program after following a doctor who she felt was not providing enough care.
“She just had an ultrasound and said ‘Congratulations!’ and sent her on her way,” Kapoor recalled. “She didn’t ask if she wanted a pregnancy. She didn’t ask if she was homeless or had no food — nothing,” Kooper said.
The team behind the AI model revealed that they are looking for new ways to incorporate the tool into the school curriculum, including other “sensitive or restricted topics”.
The University of Texas Medical Branch declined comment.
Sharma, who started her company after her own pregnancy challenges, said she would like to see practices augmented with artificial intelligence to solve healthcare problems. Today there is a significant lack of obstetrics – with an an estimated third of the country marked as a maternity care desert. Although many of these areas are rural, Sharma says these problems may also affect suburban areas as Americans continue to move out of cities.
She also highlighted issues related to rising malpractice costs and “bundled payment” models, where risk is shifted to providers and reimbursements are only approved at the end of an episode of care.
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Anu Sharma, founder and CEO of Millie, is working to improve America’s maternity care system. (Clinic Millie)
Her hope is that AI will take some of the burden off frontline workers, create personalized approaches to patient care and be able to provide a continuous stream of data to paint a picture of “developing risks” during pregnancy.
However, she noted that there are concerns if these tools are not implemented properly. Artificial intelligence systems must be trained appropriately and on accurate data avoid prejudice, industries need to ensure that workers are not expected to take on a higher caseload due to AI-assistance, and health insurance companies need to work in tandem with providers and patients as the technology becomes more widely used.
Sharma also noted that AI is also likely to see more implementation in administration before it moves into clinical practice — because health regulations in the United States often change slowly and carefully.
“Like, you take the average doctor in the US and you present them with the idea that they’re going to have an artificial intelligence nurse, you know, in their clinic that’s going to work alongside them. I think that would just blow over their heads, right? I think In the innovation story, you always see some experiments that are probably a little ahead of their time, and some are starting to gain more traction and start to be adopted,” she said.
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Digital imaging of the brain in the palm of your hand using artificial intelligence technology. (iStock)
“There will be companies that will lead the way in this and I think from their experience things will be learned and adopted more widely. So I don’t worry too much about that, I just know how the healthcare system actually works,” Sharma continued.
Research work from 2024 published by the McGill Law Journal found that artificial intelligence could be used to monitor the privacy of women seeking abortions and “exercise strong control over their bodies.”
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“Machine learning is used to aggregate and analyze reproductive health data from multiple sources to accurately profile women (data analysis) in the context of surveillance (advanced tracking methods). AI is also central to search engines like Google Search, actively tracking women’s online searches .Based on this, artificial intelligence can predict a woman’s intention to have an abortion (predictive artificial intelligence) and increase surveillance,” the paper said.
According to the research, AI can also be used to locate and identify women accessing abortion clinics. The researchers raised concerns about the spread of misinformation about maternal health found online – a problem that could affect women’s choices about their pregnancies.
