The Systemic Sabotage of Sawbones
Long ago, in a land far away, I had a kind physician who had his own private practice and always took whatever time he needed to care for me and my family. Whenever I went to his office alone, he inquired about my husband and children, ever careful to take in the big picture. He supported me through home childbirth by providing prenatal care and being on call during the birth, should the need arise. (It didn’t.) I trusted him completely.
But I’m so old I remember my childhood doctor coming to my home when I was ill. A good system for a family without a car, whose town had no public transport. I suspect this model is now merely a relic.
I first met my current physician when he was new to the practice, and I was floored to, once again, have a practitioner who looked at the whole picture—my home life as well as the snapshot of whatever ailment brought me to his office. He took his time with me. Listened. Asked questions. And gave me time to ask questions.
But that was several years ago. Now, he tries. With one foot poised in the direction of the door, knee bent for a sprint, he asks me, “Any questions before I go?” We both know he’s no longer allowed to take the time to listen fully. He has even said as much when rechecking my blood pressure because of a high reading. “We’re supposed to let you rest for five minutes first… but we can’t.”
What is left unspoken is: Because corporate design makes monetary gain the goal, rather than wellness.
And now legislators are complicating things further—without any apparent regard for rules of conduct set by the American Medical Association.
States continue to enact bans on appropriate (by AMA standards) medical care for transgender youth under the guise of calling the treatment “experimentation” or “child abuse.” But doctors—just like teachers and other professionals who work with minors—are on alert for signs of abuse and are obligated to report them. The code of ethics established by the AMA mandates this.
If physicians asked to treat gender dysphoria suspect abuse, they must, by law, report it. We trust our doctors to report abuse in all other instances, why not this one? To enact a ban that keeps transgender youth from their physicians is to declare the AMA unfit to oversee the legalities of its own profession, and to presume doctors incapable of considering their patients’ well-being.
Fifteen states have introduced legislation to prohibit physicians from treating transgender kids, indicating there are a lot of legislators that feel they know more about medicine than the folks who went to medical school.
Additionally, eleven states have bills banning abortions after a theoretical heartbeat is detected—or roughly six weeks of pregnancy. I say “theoretical” because the heart has not yet developed at 6 weeks of gestation.
Experts tell us these “heartbeats” are, in fact, electrical impulses—not the opening and closing of cardiac valves. Yet, doctors in these states now fear talking about abortions with their patients—even when their professional judgement suggests an abortion should be on the palette of choices for medical reasons.
If we continue to let Big Business and La La Legislators dictate what it means to be a doctor, we might all lose access to decent medical care. You might dismiss me because I’m old. But in this case my age serves me well. I speak from experience.