(no subject)
To any of you who are scientists or scientists-to-be out there, you might as well give up now. In the last week, I have realized that no matter how much we devote our lives to finding the scientific truth, whether it be effectiveness of drugs or global warming, it doesn't matter because politics always trumps science. I don't know how I can stand to be a doctor or a researcher in a country where the president/congress/FDA can simply overlook the hard science and instead go by what the lobbyists tell them to do. It is fucking ridiculous that member after member of medical experts are resigning from the FDA advisory committee because they aren't being taken seriously for doing the job they were hired to do. If a panel of medical experts says that the morning after pill is safe and effective for teenagers and adults to use without a prescription from a doctor, then who the fuck does the FDA think they are to say that they know what is better for me or for teenagers across the country? Instead, the country is so corrupt that they listen to conservative groups who don't care about the people who's lives they are ruining because women can't take control over their lives and choose when they want to become mothers.
Last month, in the Journal of the American Medical Association, a group of scientists, including OB/GYN physicans and neurologists, did a study on fetal pain. They looked at when pain receptors develop in a fetus and when it would be feasible for a fetus to actually feel pain. They concluded that it was almost impossible for a fetus to feel pain before 28 weeks. However, the Bush administration, being the brilliant scientists they are, said that this is not true because the study was flawed- the scientists on the research team were abortion supporters. I would love it if I had a job where I could rule out any science that went against my beliefs just because I say its flawed for some ridiculous reason. These issues are not about politics- they are about real women making sound decisions on their own without the help of a government that simply doesn't understand the science and reasoning behind it.
There is a bill that has been introduced (but not set to be voted on) that states that physicians would be required to read a statement to any woman having an abortion after 20 weeks saying that their unborn child can feel pain and that the option of giving an anesthetic to the fetus (even though we have no idea of the medical risks associated with this) must be given. If you can stand to read any further in this long post, it says: "The CONGREESS of the United states HAS DETERMINED that at this stage of development, an unborn child has the physical structures necessary to experience pain... CONGRESS FINDS that there is substantial eveidence that the process of being killed in an abortion will cause the unborn child pain, even though you receive pain-reducing drug or drugs. Under the Federal Unborn Child Pain Awareness Act of 2005, you have the option of choosing to have anesthesia or other pain-reducing drugs administered directly to the pain-capable unborn child if you so desire." Then it goes on to say that they physician MAY discuss the risks of such a choice with the woman.
I know that some of you don't care, but the thought of sitting down with a patient that I am seeing who has made one of the hardest decisions in her life, and then flat-out lying to her about the science behind the fetal-pain issue is MORALLY WRONG (not the abortion itself). How can congress mandate me as a trained physician to lie to my patients because it fits their political adgenda? FUCK YOU! But, whether or not it passes as a federal law, the fetal pain after 20 weeks law has already been attached to the 24-hour waiting period law in MN.
So, my advice to everyone- know how to protect yourself because in about a year, if any woman (or man) makes a mistake, there will be no way out.
Last month, in the Journal of the American Medical Association, a group of scientists, including OB/GYN physicans and neurologists, did a study on fetal pain. They looked at when pain receptors develop in a fetus and when it would be feasible for a fetus to actually feel pain. They concluded that it was almost impossible for a fetus to feel pain before 28 weeks. However, the Bush administration, being the brilliant scientists they are, said that this is not true because the study was flawed- the scientists on the research team were abortion supporters. I would love it if I had a job where I could rule out any science that went against my beliefs just because I say its flawed for some ridiculous reason. These issues are not about politics- they are about real women making sound decisions on their own without the help of a government that simply doesn't understand the science and reasoning behind it.
There is a bill that has been introduced (but not set to be voted on) that states that physicians would be required to read a statement to any woman having an abortion after 20 weeks saying that their unborn child can feel pain and that the option of giving an anesthetic to the fetus (even though we have no idea of the medical risks associated with this) must be given. If you can stand to read any further in this long post, it says: "The CONGREESS of the United states HAS DETERMINED that at this stage of development, an unborn child has the physical structures necessary to experience pain... CONGRESS FINDS that there is substantial eveidence that the process of being killed in an abortion will cause the unborn child pain, even though you receive pain-reducing drug or drugs. Under the Federal Unborn Child Pain Awareness Act of 2005, you have the option of choosing to have anesthesia or other pain-reducing drugs administered directly to the pain-capable unborn child if you so desire." Then it goes on to say that they physician MAY discuss the risks of such a choice with the woman.
I know that some of you don't care, but the thought of sitting down with a patient that I am seeing who has made one of the hardest decisions in her life, and then flat-out lying to her about the science behind the fetal-pain issue is MORALLY WRONG (not the abortion itself). How can congress mandate me as a trained physician to lie to my patients because it fits their political adgenda? FUCK YOU! But, whether or not it passes as a federal law, the fetal pain after 20 weeks law has already been attached to the 24-hour waiting period law in MN.
So, my advice to everyone- know how to protect yourself because in about a year, if any woman (or man) makes a mistake, there will be no way out.