I love the op-ed section of the paper. I believe we all need to write at least one letter on something we’re passionate about in our lifetime. In saying that, I applaud this reader
I am a retired family physician. I spent my career caring for pregnant women and their children. Pregnancy is not a happy-go-lucky condition that always ends with a healthy baby and an unscathed mother. There are dozens of things that can and do go wrong. Yet legislators and judges claim to know better than doctors how to manage pregnancies. People knowing nothing about biology are passing laws prohibiting lifesaving procedures.
Twenty percent of pregnancies spontaneously miscarry. Sometimes this causes complications which can become life threatening. An embryo lodged in the fallopian tube can be catastrophic if left untreated. Yet laws have been passed prohibiting doctors from performing procedures to treat these conditions.
I feel great sorrow for my former colleagues who now have to balance providing exemplary care with the fear of litigation or incarceration. Lawyers and judges should not be practicing medicine. Women and doctors should not be subject to the whims of politicians. If this is the world you wanted, then congratulations, you got what you voted for. But if you care about the lives and health of your mothers, sisters and daughters, then please vote differently to get politics out of your doctors’ offices.
Constance J. Brumm, M.D. (retired), Moscow, Idaho (formerly Bellevue)
