Where Is The Physician Outrage? Guest Post: A Doctor on Transvaginal Ultrasounds (lawless rant)

Whatever.scalzi.com ^ | March 20, 2012 | an anonymous "doctor"

[a fool in paradise]

I do not care what your personal politics are. I think we can all agree that my right to swing my fist ends where your face begins.

Then why don't you stand up for the baby's face? Or babies' faces?

Liberal hypocrisy.

[denydenydeny]

Why is TVU “rape” but an abortion involving sticking a vacuum cleaner hose into the uterus, not “rape”?

[a fool in paradise]

I do not feel that it is reactionary or even inaccurate to describe an unwanted, non-indicated transvaginal ultrasound as “rape”. If I insert ANY object into ANY orifice without informed consent, it is rape. And coercion of any kind negates consent, informed or otherwise.

So abortionists tools are non-invasive?

Keeping the women misinformed about their growing children is what the opposition to ultrasounds is all about.

Abortionists coerce their "patients" all the time. Planned Parenthood has been caught telling minors to lie on the forms about the older men who've impregnated them letting a sex criminal walk to perp his crimes another day.

[marstegreg]

I am a woman and I’m fairly sure that an abortion is also trans-vaginal.

[a fool in paradise]

It is our responsibility, as always, to protect our patients from things that would harm them.

So how do you stand up for things like minors being able to "consent" to a medical procedure known as abortion even though LEGAL abortions are still botched by trained professionals leading to injury and sometimes death?

[a fool in paradise]

Here are a few steps we can take as physicians to protect our patients from legislation such as this. 1) Just don’t comply.

When abortionists make a habit of billing the government for medical procedures that weren't even done, lying on another form is just another little ol' crime.

[a fool in paradise]

2) Reinforce patient autonomy... We have informed consent for a reason.

All depends on what INFORMED means. Look it up.

[a fool in paradise]

4) If you are forced to enter an image of the ultrasound itself into the patient chart, ultrasound the bedsheets and enter that picture with a comment of “poor acoustic window”.

3, 4, 5... "lie... lie... lie..."

Kind of like the government folks who keep telling us a chupacabra ate Obama's birth certificate.

[Psycho_Bunny]

What’s the “doctor’s” position on Catholics being forced to pay for birth control?

[Conscience of a Conservative]

Why is TVU “rape” but an abortion involving sticking a vacuum cleaner hose into the uterus, not “rape”?

If the woman consents to sticking a vacuum cleaner into the uterus, but not to the TVU, then a doctor who performs the TVU has done so without the patient's consent. I don't think either is "rape", but consent to the abortion is not the same thing as consent to the TVU.

I'm not sure these sorts of laws are such a great idea anyway. I understand the point of providing this information to a woman who seeks an abortion, but ultimately don't think it's the government's job to dictate what a doctor must or must not say to a patient. Once we grant the government that kind of power in the doctor-patient relationship, I worry about how that will be used in other contexts (e.g., some Obamacare bureaucrat requiring that a doctor provide "end of life counseling" before a patient can have heart surgery, etc.).

[caddie]

Scum doctor is blind to the fact that abortion is a violation of just about all religions, AND specifically prohibited by the Hippocratic oath.

But he hairsplits here with a reasonable law to show ignorant mothers what they are buying when they buy an abortion.

The shame lies with the doctors who do abortions, and those who are not vocally pro-life.

This guy sounds like he does abortions, and the law is seriously going to cut into his income.

[caddie]

The hypocrite doctor is blind to the fact that abortion is specifically prohibited by the Hippocratic Oath.

He is a coward, too, for not putting his name on the record for such a principled argument (sic).

Actually, he wants anonymity because he knows he is in the wrong.

[a fool in paradise]

Once we grant the government that kind of power in the doctor-patient relationship, I worry about how that will be used in other contexts (e.g., some Obamacare bureaucrat requiring that a doctor provide "end of life counseling" before a patient can have heart surgery, etc.).

You may find yourself only with government doctors who are not permitted to inform you that you CAN seek treatment for your illness rather than resigning yourself to an expected death in 6-8 months. "Take the painkiller rather than getting the surgery" is Obama's motto.

[a fool in paradise]

He wants anonymity because he advocates lying in medical paperwork, billing for services that are not rendered, and circumventing laws he disagrees with.

At least the Nazis had the mind to make sure their killings were legal. He’s more akin to a Klansman who ignores the law and goes about his reign on violence unchecked.

[ALPAPilot]

I do not feel that it is reactionary or even inaccurate to describe an unwanted, non-indicated transvaginal ultrasound as “rape”.

I do not feel that it is reactionary or even inaccurate to describe abortion as murder”.

Therefore, as physicians, it is our duty to refuse to perform a medical procedure that is not medically indicated. Any medical procedure. Whatever the pseudo-justification.

Abortion is not a medically indicated procedure.

[Conscience of a Conservative]

You may find yourself only with government doctors who are not permitted to inform you that you CAN seek treatment for your illness rather than resigning yourself to an expected death in 6-8 months. "Take the painkiller rather than getting the surgery" is Obama's motto.

That too, exactly. The point is, we ought to be wary of expansions of government power, even for noble purposes (perhaps especially for noble purposes).

[hinckley buzzard]

Just another med school grad with a Messiah complex. It happens all the time, especially with those who rank lower in class standings.

[wayoverontheright]

It is my understanding that, before an abortion procedure, it is a matter of safety for the mother to determine the precise positioning and gestational age of the fetus, and that vaginal ultrasounds are superior to abdominal ultrasounds in this regard. So where it is not "indicated" perhaps it should be "indicated".

By the way, Virginia, in the end, passed a law after removing the word "vaginal", that only requires the picture of the fetus be offered to the woman seeking the abortion. Virginia's law does not require a vaginal ultrasound.

[Mec0014]

First of all, I just want to commend you on this post. With all the controversy over reproduction in our country, we rarely if ever get the opportunity to see or hear the opinion of physicians who work in gynecological care.

I find it hard to believe that those in health care are going to just sit back and allow the government to dictate what medical procedures are performed on a patient and it's refreshing to know that there doctors out there who will not comply with these laws.

As a very young mother, I am completely aware of how terrifying it is to learn of an unwanted pregnancy, to have to make that first visit to an OB/GYN and have to remove your clothes and let a complete stranger examine your most intimate body parts. I myself, made the decision to keep both of babies and I would never regret that decision; however, i did choose not to have the trans-vaginal ultrasound with both my pregnancies because it made me uncomfortable. There is no way in hell I would have been or will be okay with my government telling me who will do it and when I have to have medical instruments shoved inside of me. It's degrading.

I completely understand requiring an abdominal ultrasound prior to an abortion. A doctor does need more information on the specific case before performing a medical procedure but some commenters on this post are going a little far.

Saying that he/she opposes required trans-vaginal ultrasounds does not mean the physician is pro-abortion or even provides them. The decision of what to do when you find yourself pregnant is hard enough with out being forced to be invaded by a doctor and patients have the right to refuse treatment last time I checked.

This post seems to be more about protecting vulnerable patients than whether or not abortions are morally wrong. The relationship between a woman and her obstetrician is one of the most important relationships a patient will have a doctor. You are trusting another human being with your most intimate organs and information and essentially the life of your future child.

So once again, I thank you for posting this. It's refreshing to know that doctors are putting their foot down and refusing to be pawns of the government. Props to you