Something my OB/GYN said to me long ago

[CathyA]

Decided to delete.
Thanks Redfox, for your reply.

[redfox]

Yes. It was unconscionable, and appalling.

[razz]

Or was it made to raise awareness that you were talking about a very serious decision in a flippant manner not understanding the full impact of what you had said?

Please note that I am in favour of maintaining access to abortion but as a last resort. Many young people don't realize that the decision is one that they will live with and have to deal with for the rest of their life. It can be very traumatic for many over the long-term. The Ob/Gyn has had to help women who are struggling for years afterward with the consequences of having had an abortion due to what may be been very limited alternatives.

BTW, I can see that this thread will deteriorate into another pro and anti abortion emotional frenzy which will be sad because it can and needs to be discussed as part of life's choices without judgement.

[CathyA]

Thanks razz. I imagine I did sound flippant, partly due to my youth. But like I said (in the post that isn't there any more)..........he could have said it in so many more ways that would have been more likely to reach me.
I was always excruciatingly careful, so I didn't have to make that decision. But I'm glad I didn't have to make it when I was so young........because I would indeed have regretted it forever. And I didn't realize it until after I had my first child.

[redfox]

BTW, I can see that this thread will deteriorate into another pro and anti abortion emotional frenzy which will be sad because it can and needs to be discussed as part of life's choices without judgement.

Definitely! Which is why the judgement of the physician is so shocking.

[Alan]

Definitely! Which is why the judgement of the physician is so shocking.But on the one side, there needs to be judgment associated with the topic. Right now there's an on-going trial in Philadelphia involving an abortion clinic and doctor who killed babies who survived abortion. Our major media outlets, who spent days reporting on a basketball coach who threw balls at his players, refuse to cover the details of the trial, seemingly because it might be seen as judgmental. I worry about the state of civil society when we're willing to overlook atrocities such as this.

[CathyA]

I guess more people were going to reply to this than I thought. Just so people aren't confused about the answers (since I deleted the post)......I initially wrote that when I was young and saw an OB/GYN for birth control, he asked what I'd do if I got pregnant. I told him I'd probably have an abortion. He then said "Then you deserve to be shot". I honestly don't know why I didn't get upset with him back then......but when you're young, you think older people always know more than you, and I was intimidated.
Whether you agree or disagree with abortion, a reasonable conversation would have been in order. Like I said, that would have been more useful to me than "You deserve to be shot".

[redfox]

But on the one side, there needs to be judgment associated with the topic. Right now there's an on-going trial in Philadelphia involving an abortion clinic and doctor who killed babies who survived abortion. Our major media outlets, who spent days reporting on a basketball coach who threw balls at his players, refuse to cover the details of the trial, seemingly because it might be seen as judgmental. I worry about the state of civil society when we're willing to overlook atrocities such as this.

Yes, of course. When someone violates the law, there is the judicial system. When someone follows the law, the judgement is between their two ears.

[flowerseverywhere]

Yes, of course. When someone violates the law, there is the judicial system. When someone follows the law, the judgement is between their two ears. and how many of these personal judgements are against women, gays, people of color etc.?

[Lainey]

CathyA,
along those lines, I had a pregnancy scare in my late teens. The local doctor checked me and confirmed I was not actually pregnant. Then he turned to me and said, "but if you do get pregnant, don't come back to me."
I too sat there kind of stunned. What a judgmental pompous ass.

Sadly, I think some of these things still happen behind closed office doors, so it's good to air it.

[ApatheticNoMore]

And they wonder why many women prefer women doctors ...

[Lainey]

And they wonder why many women prefer women doctors ...

Amen, and to this day, my doctor is a female.