I’m going to go ahead and throw this out there: Oklahoma just passed two new abortion-related pieces of legislation. Irrespective of my own personal views on abortion (which, unlike several bloggers that I respect, I’m not keen on exploring or expressing on the internet, and nor do I think I can do with the candor and rawness that someone who has experienced it can), there is a piece of this article that I can’t ignore:
The other measure approved by legislators Tuesday prohibits pregnant women and their families from seeking legal damages if physicians "knowingly and negligently" withhold key information or provide inaccurate information about their pregnancies.Maybe this is just CNN talking. Maybe, hopefully, I pray that this is just media spin. Because otherwise, it’s absolutely ridiculous. In what field, even politics, is it acceptable to “knowingly and negligently” withhold information from your customers or clients? The government’s up in arms at investment banks for allegedly doing the same thing – and that’s just an allegation. Imagine if an engineer withheld information about a bridge that he or she designed. Or that a consumer products company withheld information about the ingredients in their food. Or even when a politician withholds information about their extramarital affairs (which doesn’t affect the lives and livelihoods of their constituents)?
And yet the government wants to protect doctors who do that very thing.
By virtue of what I do, I know plenty of doctors (and aspiring doctors) who personally don’t believe in or perform abortions. But I know of none of them who are comfortable lying to their patients to ensure that their own views are followed. What a gross violation of the doctor-patient relationship.
The stakes aren’t small here. These are people’s lives we’re talking about.
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