Friday, April 30, 2010

Wow...

Again, I am probably going to lose my few readers based on this but I can't believe it and would be surprised if many of my pro-life friends would be able to live with this...

I stumbled across this purely by accident today and I am still in shock. In the state of Oklahoma, there is a House Bill that would protect doctors from being sued if they were to lie to a pregnant mother about the health status of her baby. For more information visit this link and this link. My understanding is that this legislation would protect doctors who choose not to disclose potential birth defects or even to lie about the baby's status if the doctor suspects that the mother might choose to seek an abortion based on the findings of the results.

Regardless of whether you are pro-choice or pro-life, surely it is obvious how appalling this potential legislation is. I am in so much shock, I don't know what to say. While I can totally see that abortion is a very controversial subject and that a doctor might choose not to want to have a role in doing or even arranging them, for a doctor to actually lie about test results seems to me to go against everything that the medical system is supposed to stand for. My family doctor had us sign a contract when we joined her practice in which we acknowledged that we were aware that she would not play any role in performing or arranging for the performance of an abortion and we were totally fine with that, in fact, we respected her for taking such a stand and giving her patients the chance to seek a different physician if they were concerned that at some point down the road, this might cause complications. That being said, I can't imagine for a second that she would ever condone lying to us about test results - I am sure that in the case of a problem, she would help us to get further help and to make choices for the best of the future of the baby (and for myself, as well).

I don't know what the outcome of this will actually be but I have a hard time believe that this will end here. Wow.

****As follow up, you might want to read the comments after the original post by Megan at Sortacrunchy - there are a number of women who did receive bad news and for different reasons chose to continue with the pregnancy. These women clearly illustrate why this legislation is so wrong even if you are pro-life.

2 comments:

  1. This just seems wrong on so many accounts...to not be honest and truthful. For those of us who believe abortion is a sin, well, so is lying!

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  2. Based on that, I would leave the state if I lived there. No way could I continue to live in a state where that could be condoned for the simple and basic reason that it reflects so many deeper-seated issues and attitudes. Horrible.

    And yes, I have a friend who was strongly advised to terminate, and chose not to, so I know there are people decide to take their chances with the hand they are dealt and don't need someone interfering. If nothing else, at least parents who are aware can start to research and plan for their child, and be their best advocates.

    How completely appalling.

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