Soapbox
September 29, 2008
This has been bugging me all night and I just can’t get my head around it. Someone on one of the message boards I go to posed the question of whether or not it’s okay for the government to offer protections to doctors and pharmacists when they refuse to perform an abortion or dispense things like birth control or morning after pills. I guess about 10 states in the US are considering legislation that would allow these medical professionals from withholding medical services and medication from their clients based on their moral beliefs. I haven’t looked up the source yet, but it also looks like Pres. Bush is also trying to allow those same medical professionals to refuse health care to women who they think could be pregnant or may become pregnant.
I am just so confused by the amount of women on this predominantly female board who think that it is okay for medical professionals to deny care to women simply based on their pro-life opinions. It’s really made me step back for a second to wonder what country I live in. The last time I checked this was the United States of America and NOT the United States of Fundamental Christianity. I thought this country was ruled by the U.S. Constitution and not a modern interpretation of the bible.
I made my opinion known when I asked if it would be okay for a physician not to treat someone of because they were of Japanese descent? Or would be okay for a pharmacist to deny, say, heart medication to someone who is African-American? I mean what is the difference? Discrimination is discrimination. By withholding medication or refusing to treat a patient based on that person’s gender is, to me, no different than denying services to someone based on their skin color.
Someone made the counter argument that there was a big difference between racism and trying to protect the unborn. Huh? What’s so different between racism and sexism? Does this mean that women should have no right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness because it might interfere with a possible pregnancy?
I just don’t get it. Since when did women give up their rights to be human beings just because they can conceive?
I believe every woman has the right to choose. Every woman has to right to contraception or abortion. I also believe that a woman has to right to refuse either course of action – if she so chooses. However, when a medical professional decides to refuse LEGAL services to someone based on their personal belief system, well, maybe that person needs a new profession. I mean, last time I checked abortion and contraception were both still legal in this country.
I just can’t get my head around it. I can’t understand how it would ever be okay to refuse to treat someone based on what their gender was. I mean, would we have this type of condonation if we were talking about doctors refusing to perform vasectomies on men because it would interfere with conception? I am sure there would be great cries of moral outrage over the government trying to control men’s bodies, but why is there none when this happens to women?
Filed under: Rantin' and Ravin',Whatever
