Advocating for reproductive rights, one patient at a time
Written by Ananya Dash
Dr. Tiffany Hailstorks, MD, MPH
Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022 ending the constitutional right to abortion. Dr. Tiffany Hailstorks, MD, MPH, Director of Division of Complex Family Planning and an associate professor in the department of Gynecology and Obstetrics at Emory University School of Medicine, has been adjusting to this reality even before this monumental decision. This is because an anti-abortion law was passed in the U.S. state of Georgia in 2019. The law prevents physicians from performing abortions beyond six weeks, except in special circumstances. She and her fellow physicians have been facing the changes in the legislation for a long time.
“I am surrounded by a group of people whose mission is to provide the best care for our patients, so we rally together to support each other to be able to do that,” says Dr. Hailstorks.
She has an uncanny knack to be optimistic. Nothing, whether it’s changing laws and restrictions, the draining night shifts, or visiting different clinics almost every day, deters her motivations. Ups and downs and the variety in timing and workplaces bring her perspective; she loves her practice.
Dr. Hailstorks always knew that she wanted to pursue medicine. But her path to medicine was slightly unconventional. She majored in chemistry, a rather uncommon major for medical aspirants, in undergraduate. Dr. Hailstorks attributes her early interests in science, especially chemistry, to her high-school chemistry teacher. Despite the hard subject matter, her teacher’s patience and extraordinary teaching abilities led Dr. Hailstorks to enjoy chemistry to the fullest. She even considered applying for an MD/PhD dual degree program until the clinical aspects of medicine drew her in to get an MD.
Dr. Hailstorks went to medical school at Meharry Medical College, Nashville, Tennessee, where her love affair with OB/GYN (Obstetrics and Gynecology) procedures began. She reminisces about being in the labor and delivery room for the first time during her clinical rotations. When it was time for her to leave, she was surprised by how fast the day went by. “Is it time for me to go already?” she asked her supervisor with the hope to stay longer for the rotation. This experience was a stepping stone for what a career in OB/GYN could offer to her.
After finishing medical school, Dr. Hailstorks completed her residency in OB/GYN at Howard University Hospital, Washington, DC. Then she moved to Emory University to finish a fellowship in complex family planning– a subspecialization in abortion and contraception. Each of these stages came with their unique challenges. But, she found a supportive environment with her fellow residents to keep growing in her career. She also had a number of female physicians as her mentors who served as role models. “They [mentors] helped me see and hear about their paths in science, how they have navigated medicine, and leadership roles within medicine as women,” says Dr. Hailstorks.
After completing her fellowship, Dr. Hailstorks stayed at Emory University where she is the director of the Division of Complex Family Planning since 2024. She continues to build camaraderie between colleagues in the division that she was welcomed into several years ago. Her work has been recognized through several awards by the Emory University and Castle Connolly, a healthcare research company that recognizes exceptional physicians in the U.S.
Dr. Hailstorks and I chatted about one of them: the Berky Dolores Abreu Spirit Award. She received this award in 2019 in recognition for her extraordinary dedication to foster growth among students, faculty and departments at Emory University from the Centre for Women. “I felt seen by my colleagues,” says Dr. Hailstorks. “I have always encouraged my peers that we are a team and if certain things are challenging, lean in on your team and ask for help. So, I think that the award showed that people were paying attention to me.”
The ripple effects of Dr. Hailstorks’s practice goes beyond Emory. Apart from attending at different Emory clinics, she attends to patients at Grady memorial Hospital and Feminist Women’s Health Centre, a reproductive justice organization. She gets to meet patients who might be uninsured or underinsured at these places. “Being able to provide that type of care for our patients is really important to me,” says Dr. Hailstorks.
Dr. Hailstorks’s exceptional work as a clinician now allows her to wear a number of professional hats. She works with two more reproductive justice-focused non-profit organizations, Sister Love and Sister Song, as a consultant on research projects. Emory-based researchers collaborate with her to run projects focused on abortion care. She also runs industry-sponsored studies to improve and test new contraceptive technologies through randomized trials.
Despite having such a multifaceted career, her most influential contributions are the advocacy work she does for her patients since the passage of anti-abortion legislation in Georgia in 2019. “We created fact sheets so that when our legislators go into different sessions, they have accurate facts about how abortion restrictions impact patient’s day to day care,” Dr. Hailstorks says.
Even in her own practice, she encounters multiple hindrances to exercise the full scope of care that is safe and effective due to laws and restrictions. Even in the face of these challenges, she and others on her team have been able to provide patients the care they need by creating different policies and practices all while maintaining the law. Dr. Hailstorks hopes that patients leave it to their OB/GYNs to decide the best course of action. She wants patients to come to clinics to consult regarding every step of their pregnancy and not be afraid.
When asked about the future of reproductive care, she says that she is hopeful and does the best she can, under the given circumstances. “A lot of people who have been doing advocacy and activism know that it can take a long time to see big leaps or small changes.”
Her words embody optimism for the future of reproductive health but also to each of us as we face obstacles in life. “We must find different paths to be able to continue to push forward.”
