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'''Abortion doctors''' are physicians that carry out [[abortion | abortions]]. They tend to fall into one of three categories:  

'''Abortion doctors''' are [[physicians]] that carry out [[abortion | abortions]]. They tend to fall into one of three categories:  

*Ob/gyns who perform abortions on their own patients

*Ob/gyns who perform abortions on their own patients

*Abortion specialists who perform primarily abortions at a local practice

*Abortion specialists who perform primarily abortions at a local practice

*"Circuit riders" who travel, often from state to state, to perform abortions at freestanding facilities

*"Circuit riders" who travel, often from state to state, to perform abortions at [[abortion facilities | freestanding facilities]]

The first category is rare, though it is difficult to estimate how rare. Ninety percent of abortions are performed in freestanding outpatient facilities dedicated to abortion<ref name="newproviders">[http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/18/magazine/18abortion-t.html Emily Bazelon, "The New Abortion Providers", ''New York Times'', July 14, 2010]</ref>, but how many of the remaining 10% are performed on patients with whom the doctor has an existing relationship, versus how many are performed by abortion specialists, is unclear.

The first category is rare, though it is difficult to estimate how rare. Ninety percent of abortions are performed in freestanding outpatient facilities dedicated to abortion<ref name="newproviders">[http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/18/magazine/18abortion-t.html Emily Bazelon, "The New Abortion Providers", ''New York Times'', July 14, 2010]</ref>, but how many of the remaining 10% are performed on patients with whom the doctor has an existing relationship, versus how many are performed by abortion specialists, is unclear.

==Demographics==

==Demographics==

Abortion doctors tend to be older than other practitioners. According to abortion researcher David Grimes, 59 percent of ob/gyns age 65 and older admit that they perform abortions, while only 28 percent of ob/gyns age 50 and younger do.<ref name="thinning">[http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1407901 David Grimes, "Clinicians who provide abortions: the thinning ranks", ''Obstetrics and Gynecology'', October 1992]</ref> More than half of practicing abortion doctors are over the age of 50,<ref>[http://medicalstudentsforchoice.org/index.php?page=about-us Medical Students for Choice]</ref> compared to the general population of physicians, in which only about 34% are over age 55.<ref>[http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=50619 "U.S. Physician Shortage Particularly Affects Rural Hospitals", ''Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report'', February 26, 2008]</ref>

Abortion doctors tend to be older than other practitioners. According to abortion researcher [[David Grimes]], 59% of ob/gyns age 65 and older admit that they perform abortions, while only 28% of ob/gyns age 50 and younger do.<ref name="thinning">[http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1407901 David Grimes, "Clinicians who provide abortions: the thinning ranks", ''Obstetrics and Gynecology'', October 1992]</ref> More than half of practicing abortion doctors are over the age of 50,<ref>[http://medicalstudentsforchoice.org/index.php?page=about-us Medical Students for Choice]</ref> compared to the general population of physicians, in which only about 34% are over age 55.<ref>[http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=50619 "U.S. Physician Shortage Particularly Affects Rural Hospitals", ''Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report'', February 26, 2008]</ref>

Abortion doctors also tend to be male, though the exact proportion is difficult to determine. [http://www.gynpages.com Abortion Clinics Online]. for example, lists 19 facilities with female abortionists, out of over 239 facilties, which means that slightly less than 8% of the advertising facilities offer female physicians. In the US as a whole, about 33% of doctors are women<ref>[http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/08_17/b4081104183847.htm Catherine Arnst, "Are There Too Many Women Doctors?", ''Bloomberg Businessweek'', April 17, 2008]</ref> The paucity of female abortion practitioners is even more striking when you note that the majority of ob/gyns, the specialty from which abortionists would most logically be recruited, are female.<ref>[http://www.boston.com/yourlife/health/diseases/articles/2006/10/02/women_doctors_their_ranks_growing_transform_medicine/ Mary Hegarty Nowlan, "Women doctors, their ranks growing, transform medicine", ''Boston Globe'', October 2, 2006]</ref>

Abortion doctors also tend to be male, though the exact proportion is difficult to determine. [http://www.gynpages.com Abortion Clinics Online]. for example, lists 19 facilities with female abortionists, out of over 239 facilities, which means that slightly less than 8% of the advertising facilities offer female physicians. In the US as a whole, about 33% of doctors are women<ref>[http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/08_17/b4081104183847.htm Catherine Arnst, "Are There Too Many Women Doctors?", ''Bloomberg Businessweek'', April 17, 2008]</ref> The paucity of female abortion practitioners is even more striking when you note that the majority of ob/gyns, the specialty from which abortionists would most logically be recruited, are female.<ref>[http://www.boston.com/yourlife/health/diseases/articles/2006/10/02/women_doctors_their_ranks_growing_transform_medicine/ Mary Hegarty Nowlan, "Women doctors, their ranks growing, transform medicine", ''Boston Globe'', October 2, 2006]</ref>

==Qualifications==

==Qualifications==

*Canadian abortionist Garson "Gary" Romalis credits seeing women suffer and die from [[illegal abortion | criminal and self-induced abortions]] as his motivation for performing abortions legally and therefore, presumably, safely.<ref>[http://www.nationalpost.com/opinion/story.html?id=283931 "Why I am an abortion doctor", ''National Post'', February 3, 2008]</ref>

*Canadian abortionist Garson "Gary" Romalis credits seeing women suffer and die from [[illegal abortion | criminal and self-induced abortions]] as his motivation for performing abortions legally and therefore, presumably, safely.<ref>[http://www.nationalpost.com/opinion/story.html?id=283931 "Why I am an abortion doctor", ''National Post'', February 3, 2008]</ref>

*Notorious Kansas [[late term abortion | late-term abortionist]] [[George Tiller]] reported mixed motives: honoring the memory of his late father, who had done abortions in his own practice, and the oft-cited motive of wanting to spare women injury or death from criminal abortions.<ref>[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Tiller#Background George Tiller at Wikipedia]</ref>

*Notorious [[Kansas]] [[late term abortion | late-term abortionist]] [[George Tiller]] reported mixed motives: honoring the memory of his late father, who had done abortions in his own practice, and the oft-cited motive of wanting to spare women injury or death from criminal abortions.<ref>[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Tiller#Background George Tiller at Wikipedia]</ref>

*Abortionist [[Martin Haskell]], who popularized D&X (or "[[partial birth abortion]]"), did an internship in [[anesthesia]], and intended to go into [[emergency medicine]]. But, he said, he didn't think that would leave room for him to make a name for himself professionally. After taking a part-time job in an [[abortion clinic]], he thought he could make significant improvements in how abortion was practiced, and thus shifted his focus.<ref>"http://www.nrlc.org/abortion/fetal_pain/Haskell%20Cincinnati%20Medicine.pdf", ''Cincinnati Medicine'', Fall 1993</ref>

*Abortionist [[Martin Haskell]], who popularized D&X (or "[[partial birth abortion]]"), did an internship in [[anesthesia]], and intended to go into [[emergency medicine]]. But, he said, he didn't think that would leave room for him to make a name for himself professionally. After taking a part-time job in an [[abortion facility | abortion clinic]], he thought he could make significant improvements in how abortion was practiced, and thus shifted his focus.<ref>"http://www.nrlc.org/abortion/fetal_pain/Haskell%20Cincinnati%20Medicine.pdf", ''Cincinnati Medicine'', Fall 1993</ref>

*Chatoor Bisal Singh, who made the news when he botched two abortions, one of them fatally<ref>[http://realchoice.0catch.com/library/weekly/aa040901d.htm Christina Dunigan, "Tea and Sympathy", RealChoice, April 9, 2001]</ref>, told the ''Miami Herald'' that he didn't usually work at the Dadeland abortion facility, but was "strapped for cash" and agreed to fill in for abortionist Robert Kast while he was away. Singh described himself as "not an abortionist, just an honest, easygoing guy looking for something temporary."<ref>''Miami Herald'', September 17, 1989</ref>

*Chatoor Bisal Singh, who made the news when he botched two abortions, one of them fatally<ref>[http://realchoice.0catch.com/library/weekly/aa040901d.htm Christina Dunigan, "Tea and Sympathy", RealChoice, April 9, 2001]</ref>, told the ''Miami Herald'' that he didn't usually work at the Dadeland abortion facility, but was "strapped for cash" and agreed to fill in for abortionist Robert Kast while he was away. Singh described himself as "not an abortionist, just an honest, easygoing guy looking for something temporary."<ref>''Miami Herald'', September 17, 1989</ref>