Artificial intelligence (AI) tools are now available for future medical professionals at one Texas university to navigate the complexities of pregnancy and abortion—a development that further blurs the line between technology, politics and healthcare.
A group of medical students at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston recently created a simulation of a pregnant patient, powered by AI, that the next generation of health experts can use to interpret various maternal health situations, including abortion.
The new tech allows users to engage in all-options pregnancy counseling in Texas while also avoiding the potential consequences of the state’s abortion restrictions.
Anu Sharma, the CEO and founder of a tech-enabled maternity care company called Millie, told Fox News Digital that while this kind of tech is not without controversy or political discourse, it could provide much needed innovation and help to a healthcare system with significant gaps.
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Texas medical students have developed new AI tools to assist women with different pregnancy options, including abortion. (Jan Woitas/picture alliance via Getty Images/iStock)
“I mean, I think it catches attention, because abortion as a topic, catches attention,” Sharma said. “But I think it’s, it’s actually really interesting to think about kind of just how small a piece of just the overall AI conversation that really is, within healthcare more broadly, 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 stressed that abortions are not always elective and believes it is fair to look at these tools more holistically as a kind of care for people experiencing loss—regardless of the underlying reasons.
“It’s a little bit like CPR, right? I mean, it’s a lifesaving technology in many ways, and we want to make it ubiquitously available and as many places as people may find themselves in a medical emergency, and we want people to be broadly trained. I’m not saying that’s necessarily true of abortion care. But you know, the general idea is we’re truly trying to train more people in more places you know to be able to recognize signs and scenarios and to be able to respond,” she said.
Sixty-five percent of the third-year medical students surveyed about the Texas AI tools said they felt more comfortable counseling and better prepared to work with real people. However, other students said the AI model failed to accurately simulate the emotional responses of human patients, according to Politico.
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A visitor watches an AI (Artificial Intelligence) sign on an animated screen at the Mobile World Congress (MWC), the telecom industry’s biggest annual gathering, in Barcelona. (JOSEP LAGO/AFP via Getty Images)
Dia Kooper, a student who helmed the project, told the outlet that she felt inspired to create the AI training program after shadowing a doctor that she believes gave insufficient care.
“She just did the ultrasound scan, said ‘Congrats!’ and sent her on her way,” Kapoor recalled. “She didn’t ask if she wanted the pregnancy. She didn’t ask if she was unhoused or food-insecure — nothing,” Kooper said.
The team behind the AI model revealed that they are looking into new ways to incorporate the tool into school curriculum, including other “sensitive or restricted topics.”
The University of Texas Medical Branch declined comment.
Sharma, who started her company following her own pregnancy challenges, said she would love to see AI-augmented practices to tackle issues in healthcare. Today, there is a significant OBGYN shortage—with an estimated third of the country designated as a maternity care desert. While many of these areas are rural, Sharma says these issues can also impact suburban areas as Americans continue to move away from cities.
She also highlighted issues with regard to rising malpractice costs and “bundle payment” models, wherein risk is shifted to providers and reimbursements are only authorized at the end of a care episode.
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Anu Sharma, the founder and CEO of Millie, is working to improve the U.S. maternity care system. (Millie Clinic)
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 present a picture of “evolving risks” during pregnancy.
Still, she noted there are concerns if these tools are not implemented correctly. AI systems need to be trained appropriately and on the correct data to avoid biases, industries need to make sure workers aren’t expected to take on a higher quantity of cases because of AI-assistance and health insurance companies must work in tandem with providers and patients as the tech comes into greater use.
Sharma also noted that AI will also likely see higher implementation in administration before it moves into clinical practice—as health regulations in the United States often move slowly and carefully.
“Like, you take an average physician from the U.S. and you present them with the idea that they will have an AI nurse, you know, in their clinic practicing along alongside them. I think it would just blow their mind, right? I think in in the story of innovation, you always kind of see some experiments that are probably a little ahead of their time and some are starting to kind of get more mainstream traction and start to get adopted,” she said.
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Digital image of the brain on the palm using artificial Intelligence technology. (iStock)
“There will be companies that’ll be on the vanguard of that and I think, from their experience, things will be learned and will be adopted more broadly. So, I don’t worry too much about it, just knowing how the healthcare system actually works,” Sharma continued.
A 2024 research paper published by McGill Law Journal found that AI can be used to monitor the privacy of women seeking abortions and “exert 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 analytics) in the context of surveillance (advanced tracking methods). AI is also central in search engines like Google Search, actively monitoring women’s online searches. On this basis, AI can predict women’s intention to have an abortion (predictive AI) and step up surveillance,” the paper noted.
According to the research, AI can also be used to locate and identify women approaching abortion clinics. Researchers highlighted concerns related to the dissemination of maternal health misinformation found online—an issue that could impact women’s choices related to their pregnancies.
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