Oklahoma Doctors Get Okay To Lie To Patients
Angry Mouse at kos points out the crazy.
The second measure passed into law Tuesday protects doctors from malpractice suits if they decide not to inform the parents of a unborn baby that the fetus has birth defects. The intent of the bill is to prevent parents from later suing doctors who withhold information to try to influence them against having an abortion.
Read that last part again: …prevent parents from later suing doctors who withhold information to try to influence them against having an abortion. In other words, in Oklahoma, Doctors can legally lie to you because of their personal beliefs. And, make no mistake, they will be lying. When I (and every other mother I know) was pregnant the one question I asked at every OB-GYN appointment was, “Is everything okay with the baby?” I can’t imagine a doctor telling me anything but the truth. I can’t imagine not being prepared for every parents’ worst nightmare.
But it seems that informing women in Oklahoma is situational.
The Oklahoma Legislature voted overwhelmingly Tuesday to override vetoes of two highly restrictive abortion measures, one making it a law that women undergo an ultrasound and listen to a detailed description of the fetus before having an abortion.
Amazing. Angry Mouse sums it up best…
In other words, if you’re a woman in Oklahoma seeking a legal medical procedure, you will first be forced to have a completely unnecessary procedure so the doctor can show and describe to you your beautiful, healthy little bundle of joy.
This is Oklahoman for “informed consent.”
But if that bundle of joy isn’t so healthy? Tough shit. The doctor doesn’t have to say a word.
At this rate maybe Oklahoma doctors can start issuing sugar pills in place of birth control pills without telling the patient.
It’s a sad day when knowing your doctor’s politics matter as much as his/her medical skills, but I sense that’s where we’re headed.
Tags: Abortion
The state shouldn’t have to come up with novel approaches. Reverse Roe and send the abortion issue back to the people and the states. My preference is ban it. He repeal Roe and I may move to Oklahoma where there would be no legal abortion. Maybe that could be incentive. 🙂
So… you’re okay with doctors lying to patients. It’s all about the end justifying the means?
Do me a favor, David, and drop all the “freedom” talk, you obviously don’t believe in it.
They aren’t lying. I didn’t say that I favored the bill. I said the solution is to repeal Roe and make it a non issue. The real problem is the killing of babies not whether or not someone heard the doctor say something.
“decide not to inform”… That’s not lying. As a democrat and supporter of the messiah you should know all about little semantics games like this. They would simply tell the mother to seek a second opinion.
“And, make no mistake, they will be lying. When I (and every other mother I know) was pregnant the one question I asked at every OB-GYN appointment was, “Is everything okay with the baby?” I can’t imagine a doctor telling me anything but the truth. I can’t imagine not being prepared for every parents’ worst nightmare.”
No they won’t! This would be a direct violation of their oath. They could easily lose their license if they did this. Again, they would have the mother seek a second opinion. They would say things like, “Well, I think I may see something. It could be nothing, but I’d like you to get a second opinion.”
“In other words, if you’re a woman in Oklahoma seeking a legal medical procedure, you will first be forced to have a completely unnecessary procedure so the doctor can show and describe to you your beautiful, healthy little bundle of joy.”
Please! This is such a bs exaggeration.
The most troubling theme behind your rancid little post here is the implication that all ill babies and those with birth defects do not have the right to be born. You and Hitler have so much in common.
So any child with a birth defect should simply be terminated before they are born? What, Pandora, should we do with all of those kids who were able to slip through the cracks and were born already? Should they be rounded up and terminated as well? Because it is pretty obvious by your post and Angry Mouse’s post that that is how you feel.
Finally, if you don’t want to have a baby because the baby has a birth defect (and if your opinion those children don’t deserve to live) would it be ok then to terminate babies because they are the wrong race?
Jumping to conclusion is so easy! It’s what folks like you do because you are unable to take your own intellectual shortcomings and petty political differences out of the equation. It is simply easier to make asinine assumptions…all the while hiding behind your “clever” little screen names.
protects doctors from malpractice suits if they decide not to inform the parents of a unborn baby that the fetus has birth defects.
Fine, so sue them for fraud and breach of contract – charging for a service and not delivering it.
You are such an ass, Bundy. Love the strawman argument. Where did I say, or imply, that all ill babies and those with birth defects do not have the right to be born?
I didn’t, which makes you a liar.
Thanks for the reminder of yet another reason I’ll NEVER move back to Oklahoma-stan. 😛 I left in the mid-80s when the gittin’ was good!
First of all A, IM the only “A” around these parts!
second, you should capitalize “Messiah”. Dear Leader deserves your respect.
Third, this bill says they can lie and still be protected from losing their license. so there goes THAT TeaBag-ument.
and SPEAKING of jumping to conclusions, way to go from arguing for a woman’s right to be informed and concern about deception by doctors to EUGENICS!
yes Bundy, All you fears are true! YOU CAUGHT US! We want to know the health of babies STRICTLY so we can breed the liberal master race. Go back to your color by numbers Sarah Palin picture book.
OMG that is just the most irresponsible, frightening criminal thing I have heard. I cannot even begin to delve into this any further. Pandora, please tell me this is just a sick sick joke. My stomach is turning.
A. Bundy – ok, you go to the drs and well he/she just doesn’t tell you about the large mass of cancer you have because they personally do not believe in chemo.
It is a doctors job and moral obligation to give you all of the facts and then it is your job to decide the best course of action.
Is this even legal? With certain birth defects, the risk to the mother in carrying the child is high and some of these births are high-risk. Can you imagine thinking that you are going to have a healthy child only to get the news after the birth that they have some horrific genetic disorder?
Sorry, Sunshine, no joke.
How about we insert a tube with a camera into a man’s urethra before we prescribe Viagra?
Abortion rights/moral/issues aside: WHO IS GONING TO PAY FOR ALL THESE EXTRA TESTS AND THE COST OF RAISING A SPECIAL NEEDS CHILD????? Will the state of Oklahoma be picking up the bill? What about the under/uninsured? Why won’t men stay out of legislating womens’ uterus’?
Thanks the gods the President pushed for HCR….a special needs child will no longer be uninsurable due to a ‘pre-existing condition.’
It is obvious there is no well thought out, balanced, nor fair reasoning with a law like this…..Oklahoma women need our prays to get them off their duffs and spank the duffusses in their legislature.
obviously, if sarah palin can kart HER special needs child around like a prize, ANY hockey mom can!
Comment by anon wrote: “protects doctors from malpractice suits if they decide not to inform the parents of a unborn baby that the fetus has birth defects.
Fine, so sue them for fraud and breach of contract – charging for a service and not delivering it.”
A breach of contract action against a doctor involving medical care is part and parcel of a medical malpractice action. Attorney’s routinely try to get around state med mal caps by bringing a breach of contract action, and courts have uniformly said those actions are medical malpractice actions. I’m sure a fraud suit also wouldn’t fly, as the law specifically allows them protection for the action.
It is possible to bring a wrongful birth action, although few states recognize the action, and again the court would almost surely hold the action is barred under the statute. I would hope despite the AMA’s ardant opposition to any malpractice litigation, that they would oppose this measure, and remind OK MD’s that they have a duty to provide patients with informed consent, and lying to a patient, especially about the health, or lack thereof, of their unborn child can never be defended!