The Next Generation of Abortion Providers

[qwlauren35]

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=217x6655

Wasn't sure if perhaps this might be interesting to a wider audience. I posted it in the Choice Forum.

[qwlauren35]

1. A quick Synopsis of the Article

The Washington Post Magazine wrote a cover story in November about a young medical student who is deciding whether to enter the Ob/Gyn field and become an abortion provider.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/14/AR2008111401698.html

It is a fascinating, in depth article which looks at the interweaving of medicine, medical ethics, personal values and politics. It calls attention to so many issues:

* where will the next generation of abortion providers come from?
* what will happen if our next generation of doctors chooses not to offer abortion services?
* should any attention be called to the fact that abortion is not lectured on, discussed or taught in some medical schools?
* how do doctors handle the potential emotional issues of providing abortions?
* what support systems do doctors have, or need, to address the issues they may face as abortion providers? Including social ostracism and possible violence against themselves and their families?
* what role can abortion/choice activists play in facilitating abortion training and education for medical students and doctors who are willing to consider becoming abortion providers?

I hope that some will read the article and weigh in, here or in the Choice forum.

[BrklynLiberal]

2. Thanks for the post.

[LeftyMom]

3. I suspect that part of the problem is the lack of OB-GYNS generally.

Because of insurance issues (on the OB side especially) a lot of people are leaving or steering clear of the specialty. There's also a push to drive most routine care to NPs, CNMs, etc, which isn't really a problem generally (my experience is that they actually tend to provide better routine care than OBs,) but they can't do abortions, both because of training and legal restrictions on what non-doctors can do.

[qwlauren35]

4. The article describes abortions in some detail.

I would NOT want anyone but a doctor to perform one on me, and I don't think the insurance companies would allow anyone else to do so.

It's a surgical procedure that involves scraping the uterine wall. Oh HELL no, I love my nurse practitioner, but she is not trained to put a scalpel up past my cervix.

I should add that the article also gives the medical student's perspective on what the "product of conception", i.e. "the unborn" looks like after the procedure. For a first trimester abortion, the student had no sense that a "person" had been aborted.

I realize that I am probably being a bit blunt, but doctors are a unique breed of people, who are trained to work on cadavers. What they have seen of the human body - and every organ and system within it goes way beyond anything I can even comprehend. I have a feeling that they can distance or divorce themselves from many aspects of humanity that I'm not comfortable facing. So it may not be so surprising that a medical student would not find the remains of abortion as repugnant as someone who has never seen the inside of the human body first hand.

One of the other things about the article which struck me is that the insular culture of the medical community plays a role in how abortion is approached. There is a Medical Students for Choice group, and the article shows their approach, i.e. training workshops with "Papayas" to review abortion procedures and lecture workshops with presentations by M.D.s who are abortion providers, rather than roundtables with lay men and women who are coming from a more political framework. It's a practical perspective. There is nothing fuzzy about it.

Last, I think that, within the medical community, it is less likely that fuzzy terms like "pro-choice" and "pro-life" have a place. I think you're either "pro-abortion" and willing to perform the procedure, or you're "anti-abortion"... and you're not willing to perform them. By the time a woman is in a surgical room with her feet in the stirrups, she has made her "choice".

I have grave concerns over the practical aspects of women being able to choose abortion - there is no "choice" if there is no one willing to perform the procedure. And I am not sure if the RU-486 pill will make up for a doctor shortage. I wonder how abortion advocates can support this issue. And it may be that the only way is by funding the abortion lobby.

[qwlauren35]

5. Perhaps I should have kicked this in the morning...

Oh well. Maybe tomorrow.

[Joe the Liberal]

6. I cant even begin to imagine being an abortion provider..........

There is just too many hypocritical right wing religious wackjobs out there.

[qwlauren35]

7. That's the problem.

There is one other. From what I read in the article, it's a ridiculously boring job, unless you include patient care. I cannot imagine scraping the inside of uteruses all day long. But if the procedure only takes 5 minutes, that's what an abortion provider would basically be doing.

On the flip side, for someone who wants a 9-5 job, or set hours, or possibly even a part-time post retirement job, it might be a good option for some physicians. I would add that it might be the kind of job that you can shape a bit. For example, if you wanted to incorporate more patient counseling, there might be that opportunity.

[qwlauren35]

8. Just a nudge

during prime time. I'd love to see more discussion in the Choice forum.