Dr. Loh: The repercussions of Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade decision
So much to talk about. Vaccines for children, recurrence of polio, monkeypox surge, bivalent vaccine effectiveness (or not), evidence-based vitamin recommendations (or not), but dwarfing of these important health issues has been the Supreme Court’s 5-4 decision on a healthcare issue that does not belong outside of a private conversation between a patient and her healthcare provider.
Since the mid 1990s, our country has increasingly become more polarized into various political camps, which has been only exacerbated by the rise of cable news and social media. That’s a discussion unto itself, and gratefully is not in the realm of this column. I want to highlight some repercussions of this judicial decision on patients and doctors, regardless of one’s political or philosophical persuasions.
The most critical and negative impact this decision will have is on women. Despite this decision by the current Supreme Court, abortion not going away. But safe abortions in many states will. The decisions that control reproductive life affect not only women, but their partners, their economics, their jobs, their professional careers and their future life options. Very personal stories have been widely published and speak for themselves, but the ones that may be more impactful will be the stories of people you know, on both sides of this issue. No doubt good and bad outcomes result from these decisions women have to make, depending on the circumstances in which they find themselves. But the critical issue here, in my estimation, is the ability to make a decision … not have the decision made by legislative fiat.
Doctors really don’t like third parties influencing the doctor patient relationship; we already have strong feelings about insurance companies restricting necessary and appropriate care for the goal of purely maximizing profits, regardless of how they dress up the language. But when legislators step in for political or philosophical reasons in the absence of objective evidence, physicians tend to take considerable umbrage. We have taken an oath to provide necessary and needed care to whomever presents before us. Legislation that impedes that mission may create ethical dilemmas.
Most patients that are contemplating termination of a pregnancy (itself a horrifically stressful consideration) and the doctor (who must weigh the health of fetus and mother, concerns about genetic or developmental defects; care for victims of rape or incest) have to now consider risk aversion, criminal implications, malpractice coverage, and their professional role. It should be a relationship based on providing what care is best for the patient in a neutral and minimally stressful environment. This will not help that goal.
We each, of course, have our opinions, often influenced by parents, social circles and the sources of information to which we are exposed. We have our religious beliefs, often the one that one was born into, or to which one gravitates as one seeks out meaning of life as one hopefully matures. But these opinions and tenets should not foisted on others without a democratic process.
Five conservative judges have impacted the lives of almost 40 million women in 26 states. Two of these judges in testimony to the Senate confirmation panels may have perjured themselves by stating under oath that they believed Roe to be settled law. Some senators have expressed shock and dismay at this revelation. You would think that those senators would have learned by now that you just have to listen to people when they tell you who they are over their lifetime, not at their job interview. Especially for a lifetime position from which they cannot be fired.
Well, what to do? We as individuals should do what any American can do to make change, as long as America allows, unlike in Putin’s Russia or Xi’s China. We should speak up. We should support organizations that share our values. We should send financial support to candidates for offices that have influence. The beauty of America is that those who feel differently about those issues can do the same.
I am a husband, father of three daughters, physician, clinical researcher, teacher, lecturer, consultant, advisor to start-ups, co-founder of a healthcare technology company, but most significantly in this point in our history, an American voter. We should all ponder the long-term implications of these events and come to a conclusion, and cast our ballots for candidates who will represent us in local, state, and national bodies.
Despite constant efforts by those afraid of the outcome to attempt to manipulate that process in their favor, I have faith that Americans of all beliefs and philosophies, will stand up. We must ensure that the voices of We The People will be heard. It’s called democracy. And it scares the hell out of those fear knowledge and education, which are what power successful democracies. So they traffic in ignorance and misinformation to manipulate those who think in bumper stickers.
To the rest, I say two and a half things. One (and a half), save this column and pull it out before you vote; and two, go vote. Our future depends on it.
Irving Kent Loh, M.D., is a preventive cardiologist and the director of the Ventura Heart Institute in Thousand Oaks. Email him at drloh@venturaheart.com.
This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Dr. Loh: The repercussions of Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade decision
