welshgirlyUK

Source

What worries me about the amount of doctors refusing to carry out abortions on women is that this could then cause them to revert to 'back alley' abortions again.

*Ledi*

I don't think that's right. If you don't think you can handle everything that comes with your job, then you shouldn't even consider it. These "doctors" know what they're going to have to deal with and if they can't (for whatever reason), then they should go find another job.

If my doctor refused to give me prescriptions for my birth control pills because "it goes against her religion," then I'd make a big deal about it. It's not right for a patient to suffer because the doctor is not suitable for the job.

nopal

I don't necessarily think that ALL doctors should have to perform abortions, but I definitely think that all Ob-Gyn doctors should have to since reproductive and pre-natal care is their specialty.

migamoo

welshgirlyUK, thank you for the thread and article, but can you please add a source to it.

I am torn to an extent on this. If a doctor is going to go into the obstetrician/gynecological field, they should be trained to do abortions. I can fully appreciate a doctor's apprehension to perform one, but it does come with the job. I think if they cannot handle that part of their job, maybe they should switch to another specialty. But then again, doctors take the Hippocratic oath to first do no harm. To an extent, one could say an abortion does harm to the embryo/fetus or even to the mother is one is not done. I don't know, I can see both sides of the issue, and if I had to choose, I'd choose for them to perform the abortion.

chicah

I couldn't agree more with *Ledi*. If you don't want to do something like this, then don't apply for the job. It might be kind of cynical, but you are paid to do your job, and if you refuse to do that, I don't think you deserve to have your job much longer.
They couldv'e chosen something within medisine where they didn't have to perform abortions if it was such a big deal to them.

sunnykerr

This is a tough one for me as well. I completelly, to the depth of my being, support a woman's right to choose to have an abortion. Under no circumstances do I believe she should ever be denied that option. However, I don't think I could ever have one myself.

Keeping that in mind, I do think there are a multitude of branches of medecine. People who don't think they should or could perform abortions shouldn't train to be in obstetics and gynecology. Or, at the very least, they should provide their patients with an alternative doctor who would be willing to perform the abortion.

migamoo

I'm the same way. I used to identify myself as pro-life, but I got to the point where it felt wrong for me to tell someone they couldn't have the procedure. I could not ever picture myself having an abortion, but that doesn't mean others should be denied the right.

Jacob1983

If a doctor doesn't want to perform an abortion because of his/her religious beliefs/grounds, then I see nothing wrong with that. I"m sure that many women refuse to have abortions because of their religious beliefs. So why can't a doctor do it?
A doctor has freedom of religion and that should give him/her the choice of whether to perform an abortion. However, I do think that doctors who won't do abortions should at least refer women to doctors that will.
Besides, women should not even see doctors that they know will not give them abortions. That's just common sense.

migamoo

Doctors are in the position to help a patient. If a woman wants an abortion, her doctor should be able to give her one.

Not all women can.

Jacob1983

So a person should do something even though they think it's wrong and will feel guilty after it?

I've never heard anything in which doctors are required 100 percent to do abortions. I have always heard that doctors can refuse if they have their reasons. I honestly don't see what the big deal is.

If a woman wants an abortion, she should go to a doctor that is willing to give her one. Don't you see how pointless it is for a woman to see a doctor who won't perform an abortion? It's a waste of time.

The abortion debate is so lopsided. It's somewhat selfish too. It's always about the mother's rights, wants, and needs. The baby and father always get left out because they are deemed less important. It's like "you have a penis so you don't have a say in the matter". That's really crappy and sad.
It takes both a man and woman to have a baby. I wish abortion people would realize that.

sunnykerr

See, that's where I see a grey area. I totally understand a doctor being guided by their religious beliefs, and I fully support that, too. But, at the same time, I can't help feeling that woman who want to execize that option should be allowed to. What happens if all the doctors refuse to perform the abortion? Then she's the one stripped of her legal right to one.

That, to me, sounds like a fine option. This way, everyone's rights are respected.

Well, it is common sense, but then (unless the subject of religion is discussed beforehand, which would seem to be a very strange conversation to be having with one's doctor) it's not like the woman necessarily knows in advance what her doctor's position is on the subject.

I've been seeing the same OBGYN for five years now. I figure I'll keep on seeing her till she stops practising or till I move too far away or something like that. I couldn't tell you if she practises abortions. I have no clue. If I got pregnant tomorrow and decided to have an abortion, I guess that'd be when I would find out.

And the baby's rights don't really matter when it's still a fetus. And if a man's that hellbent on having children, he shouldn't have sex with a woman who doesn't want them.

leytonjunkie

People who don't believe in abortion believe it is murder. You cannot force someone to murder another person. It's perfectly fine for a physician to refuse to murder someone. Doctors cannot be forced to perform an abortion just like they cannot be forced to perform a physician-assisted suicide

migamoo

I have to agree with Sunny on that. Like I said in my first post, I can appreciate how the doctor feels about such things, but you're taking away the right of the woman who requests the procedure.

Not every woman is in the position to have see a doctor who will perform an abortion. There are instances where woman would have to travel across a state or even state-lines to find one.

But that depends on if you give an embryo or fetus the same rights as a borne-person.

Euthanasia is illegal in most states while abortion isn't.

sunnykerr

But there's a difference between abortion and assisted suicide.

Abortion has to do with a woman exercizing her right to have control over her reproductive health. The fetus does not have a say in the matter. The fetus, if you took it out of the body at that point, wouldn't survive anyway. Ergo, as far as I'm concerned anyway, while it certainly has the potential to be a life, it isn't one yet. That's the way I see it. Obviously, not everyone sees it that way and that's also fine. My point is that, regardless of whether the fetus is deemed to be a life or not, there's no way it can express its wishes.

Assisted suicide is when a patient has decided they don't want to live anymore. Where it is performed, there has to be a clear way for that patient to express his or her desire to terminate their life. This isn't about pulling the plug on people in comas for the heck of it. This is about people who either have a pre-existing understanding with either physicians or family members that, under certain circumstances, they wish their lives to be terminated. There are psychiatric evaluations, there are "waiting periods." The only reason it involves a physician is because the person is unable to kill themselves without outside help. They make the decision for themselves.

quaist

In which society do you live?

I mean, normally it's just nature that females get pregnant and give birth to babies. So I think it's just nature that they can make their decision if they want to keep the baby or not. And how would you not leave the baby out? I mean it's not like that you could ask a fetus for its opinion...

Also, I don't think the biological father of the fetus should have the right to force the mother to give birth to a child.