Albany – Senator Liz Krueger is pleased to announce that the New York State Abortion Training Initiative (NYSATI) launched on October 1, 2026. Applications for training were received immediately, and the first group of participants has already been accepted into the training program. This is important initiative that was established through funding appropriated in the 2025 State Budget, inspired by S.1438 carried by Senator Krueger, to address abortion provider shortages and training needs in New York State.
 

There is an increasing shortage of OB-GYNs in the U.S. due in part to an aging workforce. According to a KFF brief, in 2021-2022 there were 38 practicing OB-GYNs per 100,000 women in the U.S. overall (approximately 1 OB/GYN per 2,600 women), ranging from 41 per 100,000 women in metro counties down to 13 per 100,000 women in rural counties. Furthermore, a 2020 study found that 88% of OB-GYNs whose patients sought abortion care during the year before provided referrals due to inability or unwillingness to provide care. This percentage has likely increased due to the number of abortion bans that have been enacted since the Dobbs decision in 2022.
 

OB-GYNs are not the only health care practitioners who provide abortion services. In the State of New York, licensed physicians and advanced practice clinicians (APCs) – licensed midwives, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants – are authorized to perform abortions within their scope of practice. Many family medicine and other primary care physicians, emergency medicine physicians, and APCs are interested in providing abortion and miscarriage management care and related reproductive health care services, but generally do not receive the necessary training as part of their education.
 

Establishing NYSATI will address these training needs and help to mitigate abortion provider shortages in New York by making structured training in abortion care and related reproductive health care services, including miscarriage management, available to licensed physicians who have not received training or who seek to increase their training, APCs who did not have access to training during their APC education, fellows, and third year medical residents who have not had access to training.
 

During Phase I of implementation, training is available to licensed physicians already trained in first trimester care who are seeking to increase their clinical skills and APCs who were unable to obtain abortion training during their APC education.
 

The training program is administered and overseen by Public Health Solutions and the National Abortion Federation, and the participating clinics providing training include Buffalo Women Services, Choices Women’s Medical Center, Early Options, and Parkmed NYC.
 

By expanding access to training, this critical initiative will further solidify New York State’s status as a national leader in abortion access and training during this period of unprecedented assaults on reproductive healthcare.
 

About NYSATI
NYSATI is designed to address the growing shortage of abortion providers in New York State by bringing together a consortium of abortion clinics to provide structured training to New York State licensed physicians and advanced practice clinicians across the State. Public Health Solutions (https://healthsolutions.org) is the lead administrator of NYSATI. The National Abortion Federation (https://nationalabortionfederation.org) provides subject matter programmatic oversight. The four participating clinics providing training are Buffalo Women Services (https://buffalowomenservices.com), Choices Women’s Medical Center (https://choicesmedical.com), Early Options (https://earlyabortionoptions.com), and Parkmed NYC (https://parkmed.com).
 

To learn more about NYSATI, including how to apply for training, visit https://abortiontraining.org/