Playing God
Friday, February 9, 2007 7:48There have been a couple of stories in the news lately about people getting access to appropriate, legal, and voluntary health care. On the 31st of January, this notice appeared in the NY Times:
A woman who told the Tampa police that she had been raped was jailed for two days after officers found a warrant accusing her of failing to pay restitution for a 2003 theft arrest. While the woman was behind bars, her lawyers said, a jail worker refused to give her a second dose of the emergency contraceptive pill because of religious convictions…
Today in the Boston Globe, the results of a survey of 1,144 doctors found that only about 86% of them felt obligated to inform their patients about health care options that conflicted with their personal morals (such as abortion, emergency contraception, birth control to teenagers without parental permission…do you see a certain pattern here?). In other words, more than 1 in 10 doctors will choose to leave a patient ignorant or outright refuse to provide health care that is legally available.
The jail worker’s actions are just completely unconscionable; it’s not like the person in question had the option of going elsewhere (being in jail), and it’s also not like emergency contraception isn’t time sensitive. Moreover, we are talking about someone who is claiming to be a rape victim; even if most of the country didn’t support the right of women to choose, even the majority of pro-life supporters make exceptions in the case of rape and incest. How is it that this can be considered appropriate behavior, or even acceptable?
However poorly one might look upon the jail worker, however, the doctors who specifically choose to not provide (or refer) information on health care options they don’t morally agree with are possibly worse. Doctors are supposed to be trusted advisors; how can you trust someone who will knowingly impose their morals on your body? How is it that doctors can take your choice from you?
If a woman is raped, how is it the business of her doctor to decide she must carry to term? If a sexually active teenaged girl asks her doctor for birth control, how is it her doctor’s decision to that she’ll abstain if he doesn’t provide it (or otherwise get knocked up, as she clearly deserves). It’s beyond unethical; how is it possible that it’s legal?
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
