We Must Protect Our House

Protecting the practice of medicine is not a “Blue” mission or a “Red” mission, it is a doctor’s mission. That is why I am so surprised I have not seen or heard more outrage from my colleagues regarding the proposed “gag rule”.

Earlier this month, the Trump administration released the language of a proposed rule on federal family planning funding, and then HHS followed with the complete proposal. Page 119 states that “A Title X project may not perform, promote, refer for, or support, abortion as a method of family planning, nor take any other affirmative action to assist a patient to secure such an abortion.” There has been subsequent debate about whether this is truly consistent with the “gag rule” from the Reagan era.  

Regardless of the labeling, these types of proposals are offensive to me, as a woman, as a patient, and as a provider. I have not spent my entire life training to learn the art of medicine to have my craft oversimplified and micromanaged by a select group of politicians. I am certain that very few White House officials have ever had to tell a previously healthy husband that he has terminal cancer. Or have sat with a grieving mother after losing a child in a senseless drunk driving accident. Or have discussed end of life care with an elderly patient. It is my duty as a doctor to make these dark and seemingly hopeless moments easier for my patients by, if nothing else, presenting them with clear and honest information.

We as doctors deal with the best and worst of humanity every day. We bring life into the world and are the last person a patient might see before passing away, sometimes both on the same shift. But that is our arena; our jurisdiction is comprised of the vulnerable moments people experience from birth to death. And I want to see us fight harder to protect that. Politicians should not be telling us how to do our jobs. This is our house.  

This is not about being pro-choice or pro-life, Republican or Democrat, this is about being a scientist and acting with integrity. This is about being a data-driven professional who above all else will fight for a patient’s access to information. For a group of people who on average has spent 20 years in the classroom, how can we not universally and passionately support educating patients about all of their options?

Therefore, as a personal challenge to my fellow doctors, I hope the next time a politician tries to control the way we practice medicine, we respond with fierce, old-school outrage. I know we have it in us.  

https://www.hhs.gov/opa/sites/default/files/title-x-nprm.pdf