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The Gazette Opinion StaffOpinion Page Editor, The Gazette |
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Telemed abortions risky to women’s health, lives
The Gazette’s Oct. 5 editorial “Focus on reducing unintended pregnancies” is flawed and provides a one-sided biased viewpoint on telemed abortions.
Telemedicine is meant to benefit patients living in rural areas with limited access to larger cities and hospitals. The 16 Planned Parenthood facilities offering webcam abortions are all located within an hour of a city and a hospital.
The woman never sees her ultrasound and is never examined by a doctor. It is all e-mailed to the doctor outside of her sight.
The failure of a doctor to physically examine the woman avoids detection of risk factors that could lead to complications following ingestion of the abortion pills.
Jenifer Bowen is correct when she states there have been no verified health emergencies among the telemedicine patients who have taken the abortion pill. This is because the women who take the pills are not mandated to return to Planned Parenthood for a follow-up visit. Furthermore, complications will result in emergency room visits that may or not be revealed as caused by abortion pills from Planned Parenthood.
Planned Parenthood and its kind are always promoting service to its customers. We believe that service should never trump women’s health. Abortions via webcam endanger women’s health, and provide another option for Planned Parenthood to maintain their profit margin and abortion quotas.
Join with us to oppose this practice of placing young women’s health and lives at risk.
Steven Brody
Executive Director
Dubuque County Right to Life Inc.
Brody’s organizational affiliation says it all. He is not against tememedicine or RU486 because he is concerned about women’s health; Brody is opposed because he wants to limit women’s reproductive rights, and ultimately wants government to have control over women’s bodies.
Just because he is concerned with the health of the woman’s child AS WELL AS the health of the woman is no reason to dismiss his claim. His organization is promoting LIFE, both that of the woman and her child. It only works though politics to do that because it has to.
Lyn, you are w.r.o.n.g. to assume tht pro-rights people also don’t prmote life. We prefer not to enslave women to their uteruses.
Wow. What a surprise. Another man against Planned Parenthood.
Until you, Mr. Brody, are able to conceive and carry a child to term, you have no credible arguement. At all.
Thank you Julie! Well said.
Well I’m a woman and able to conceive and carry a child to term and see no problem with him pointing out that this is yet another way that doctors are distancing themselves from abortion. It’s silly to just dismiss his argument because he’s a man, killing is killing. Just because his gender isn’t doesn’t have a womb to kill children in doesn’t make his points any less accurate.
But it is not doctors distancing themselves from abortion. It is doctors treating patients remotely. There is nothing wrong with this.
Your issue is with abortion and that is your choice.
Lyn, I reject your assertion that abortion is “killing.” It is ending a pregnancy, and I am perfectly comfortable with allowing individual women the right to decide for themselves. By calling it “killing,” do you condone the murders of abortion providers?
Gosh another progressive quite comfortable having fun and then ending the life of a child. It doesn’t take being pregnant to respect humanity and have self-respect for your own actions, it takes responsibility. Abortion destroys motherhood and it destroys the life of a child – for what purpose Julie?
For what purpose are you asking me this question, Gary?
Gosh, a conservative practicing demagoguery. Who would have thought…
Mr. Brody makes the claim that proponents of telemedicine are disingenuous because the 16 Planned Parenthood facilities are all located within an hour of a city and hospital.
Does Mr. Brody assume that everyone has the same resources as himself? I’m sure for Mr. Brody a one hour drive takes no more planning than a walk from his well adorned office to the break room to grab a cup of coffee. But for someone with limited resources, not uncommon in rural communities, a one hour drive is just as impossible as a 12 hour drive.
Also, Mr. Brody fails to mention whether or not each of these locations provides the family planning services offered by Planned Parenthood and at the same cost to the patient. For many of the client of Planned Parenthood, Planned Parenthood is their only option.
Mr. Brody’s claim that there are unreported medical emergencies is dishonest and Mr. Brody cannot simply make up health emergencies simply because there are none to support his position. Telemedicine has been successfully practiced throughout the world providing medical services for patients with all types of medical conditions. Telemedicine has proven to be a safe and practical solution for providing medical services to remote patients.
Mr. Brody says, “We believe that service should never trump women’s health.” Let me clue you in, serving the patient is the first step any health care provider must take in ensuring the good health and well being of their patients. Without service, patient’s needs are unmet. But that is really your goal Mr. Brody, to ensure the family planning needs of the women of Dubuque County are unmet. Isn’t it?
And your claims that Planned Parenthood is putting profit margins first and have abortion quotas are so outrageous and dishonest I cannot believe that you would level these accusations publically.
Great comment, Owen. People like Steven Brody are more of a threat to women’s health and safety than telemedicine. And, opponents of reproductive rights are a threat to our freedom.
Yeah, Mr. Brody is a piece of work. As Julie says, another man against Planned Parenthood. (Reproductive rights.)
or i suppose these ‘women’ could practice abstinence? abortion should never be a form of birth control. don’t fire back the rape and incest thing. the number of pregnancies from that is so small it is insignificant.
Abstinence works both ways. It’s just as easy for the guys to keep their zippers shut.
Or I suppose it’s none of your business?
Humans are sexual beings, as is all life. Your goal of abstinence is impossible because it goes against the nature of life.
Abstinence is a red herring, James.
It’s the woman’s decision, period.
Ahhh rape and incest is insignificant just because it’s a small amount? That’s just wrong, however, I agree it should never be used as birth control, but I am not going to tell any woman, or man for that matter, what they can do with their own bodies, and no one is going to tell me what I can and can’t do with MY body. It’s no ones business.
Planned Parenthood – Heartland claims that off the approximately 2000 telemed abortions they have done, there have been no problems or complications. That is very hard to believe as a recent Australian study of 3000 abortions using RU486 according to protocols showed a 4.1% complication rate requiring surgical abortion or emergency surgery.
Planned Parenthood has gotten into trouble elsewhere for failing to follow RU486 protocols. & according to the protocols, the way PP is doing them in Iowa is not the correct proceedure either. PP sends the followup drug home with the woman instead of requiring her to return for it as the FDA protocols require. Nor do they follow many of the other protocols.
PP across the USA has also been caught covering up stauatory rape & incest as well as giving out false medical information. So why should it be assumed they are telling us the truth when it comes to their claims about telemed abortions?
I don’t suppose you have any sources available for you claims, do you?
Allen, what you argue here is that Planned Parenthood needs to follow protocols. You have NOT offered a reason to prevent the use of RU486, or to deny women reproductive rights.
Mr. Brody:
Until you as a male can become pregnant, carry a child to term and give birth yourself kindly keep your virtual hands off my body and your personal beliefs about what I should do with my body to yourself.
Won’t anyone step and defend Mr. Brody? Maybe no one agrees with him.
i agree with Mr Brody to a point. you wouldn’t go to an office for any other procedure if the murderer, err, “doctor” or nurse wasn’t there, so why in this case?
Murderer?????? Are you trying to instigate something? Is there any reason it can’t be debated respectfully?
If you look at M James’ user page and notice his user name under the old system Grandma, you wouldn’t be surprised at his comments.
Isn’t that right csg..err M James?
never tried to hide it there lori.
aren’t you glad your mother chose to not su.ck you into a sink?
Why would she have? Have I ever said anything about my background to suggest she would have had any reason to do so? Nope, don’t think so.
Just pointing it out for those who haven’t bothered to look at your user page.
absolutely. what else would you call someone who purposely ends a human life? if someone guns you down in cold blood, it is murder. why should someone who slices a baby into pieces be considered any differently? you do know with ‘partial birth’ abortion, the child is fully developed and capable of living outside the womb, right? but you president says it is Ok to kill those kids, and if the kid survives, to just let it die from malnourishment. call it or ME what you want, but I am right and the big man upstairs would agree with me – not a bad side to be on.
James, you present the usual lies about late-term abortions, and deliberately omit they are only used when the woman’s life or health are in danger.
By using the word “murder,” you also implicitly indicate sympathy for killers like Paul Hill and Scott Roeder. So, you condone the use of terror?
I haven’t seen the studies for either side, so I’ll just say I don’t know if the procedure is too risky to be done this way or not. I’m assuming due diligence was done and it was deemed safe using unbiased measures. But I do worry that they may be getting “shortchanged” in the followup. Hopefully that doesn’t lead to any undue “pain and suffering”, and I’m not just talking about the physical aspects. I guess that’s what bothers me most about it -it seems to cold and distant. I know some people like to pretend abortion is no big deal (certainly for some that’s true), but for many women it is a very difficult event, and some don’t realize how its going to affect them until after the fact. I just hope there’s someone there if they need them.
Glenn, Buick, et al aren’t around at the moment Rich.
Interesting that progressives are in such a hurry to find the most efficient way possible to destroy human life.
Thanks to folks like YOU, Gary, over 90% of American counties have no abortion provider. RU486 is a safe abortifacient which reduces the need for surgical abortion; telemedicine offers a service that many women need.
The issue here is whether women have the right to reproductive freedom: you would deny them that right, and dress it up in language which has encouraged people like Scott Roeder or Paul Hill to commit REAL murders. Look at your own politics before you accuse anyone else here of not valuing human life.
tell you what jeff. i’ll give them ‘reproductive freedom’, but how about this as a fair trade-off. if she wants it, but the s.prem donor does not, why doesn’t she sign off on a ‘financial freedom’ thereby releasing the donor from financial responsibility? seems to me it works both ways. women only need men for their paychecks anyhow.
Red herring, James. Paternity and child support are separate issues from reproductive rights.
Funny how you seem to countenance irresponsible behavior on the part of promiscuous men who bear NONE of the risks of carrying a pregnancy to term.
I find it interesting that regressives, such as yourself, only care about human life when it’s “pre-born”. After a human becomes “post-born” they’re on their own. Born into poverty? Tough luck. You’re on your own, kid. Need any help from social services (which are the norm in most cilvilized countries)? Too bad, the regressives got theirs and they ain’t sharing with you, kid. Born with a serious medical condition? Too bad you’re gonna die, kid, because there’s no way the insurance companies will cover you. You are a liability that will cost their bottom line. Need an education to get ahead in life? Not gonna happen when the regressives abolish the Dept. of Education. Your only option is to join the military so the regressives can ship you off to one of the endless wars that they so favor. The military industrial complex is always looking for fresh meat. So there ya go, kid, you just became “pre-dead”. And get off my lawn while you’re at it.
Well said Julie.
Thank you, Owen. I was pretty well teed-off about it this morning.
but your savior the almighty Kenyan has as.sured that pre-existing conditions will be covered – at the expense of the rest of us… and the military makes it possible for you to open your sewer every day, so don’t bite the hand that feeds you
Jeez Common Senseless Guy, you’re a birther too?
forgot to mention how your savior hasn’t “brought the troops home”. the department of education SHOULD be abolished. they are a miserable failure. every parent should be able to get vouchers equal to the local schools get in tax revenue for their kids, that the parents can then use to finance their children’s education how they see fit. Catholic or Parochial schools, private, or Montessori schools. in states that have this, students come out ahead. competition makes things better. the DOE is DOA
Thanks for showing us what is in your heart M. Bigotry.
I understand how the convenience of telemedicine is extremely appealing to those who do not have the time or resources to travel to/from a doctor; however, is this the way we want our health care to go?
An abortion is a serious trauma to the body and it’s important to know as much about the patient before this trauma takes place. Is there a normal heart beat? Normal heart rate? Normal blood pressure? Does this woman have an understanding of what can happen during her abortion (cramping, bleeding, pain, etc)? Is she allergic to any medication? Has she had an infection of any type in the past month? Does she have a cold or flu? Does she have any STDs? When was her last menstrual period? Has she had any spotting?
We cannot assume these things are being addressed because the doctor is not physically seeing the patient. Is this the way our health should be taken care of?
Would we want our grandpa/grandma, who is short of breath and having difficulty breathing to be told “telemedically” that they just need an inhaler? What if they have pneumonia and that treatment is neglected because the doctor thought an inhaler would do the trick?
Is is appropriate to be told “telemedically” that our child is critically ill and that nothing can be done? Or would we rather the doctor be there with us to explain things and looking into other options?
If we allow telemed abortions (which is a trauma to the body), then how do we know telemedicine will not move into other aspects of health care – to diagnose your high blood pressure or your diabetes?
This isn’t about whether you agree with abortion or not but whether or not this is the safest way to provide this service. The abortion pill is meant to terminate a pregnancy – there is no “easy” way to terminate a pregnancy. It’s painful and it can have adverse side effects. Doing this via television is negligent.
I don’t mind ordering my food at the drive up menu or being buzzed into a locked building without seeing the person I’m talking to, but I certainly do not want to be prescribed medication (of any sort) telemedically without seeing a doctor.
Telemedicine has been proven to be a safe and effective way to treat patients. Realistically your interaction with your doctor is limited to a brief interview after a nurse has taken all your vitals anyway.
problem is katrina, the pro-baby killing crowd doesn’t care. they see life as no more than a blob of flesh. a baby as one that can be squashed like a bug. no compassion. no heart. yet each one of them are here today because their mother chose life. and for some, they are living proof that maybe abortion SHOULD have been legal when their mothers were carrying them (a-hem). it doesn’t matter. you have so-called doctors sworn to do no harm and uphold life selling out their soul for a buck, and women that pull up their pants and walk away, like it is no big thing. very sad.
Jeff, Julie, and Owen,
I am sorry that you are so sadly mistaken on all fronts. The fact is that life is a fgift from God. We are all created in his image and likeness. The fact is that life begins at conception. There is absolute scientific evidence of that fact. The fact is that the founding fathers recognized the order in which our inalienable rights are endowed by “our creator.” Life is followed by liberty and pursuit of happiness. The fact that it is legal does not mean it is morally right. Abe Lincoln dispelled that myth with the Emacipation Proclomation. The fact is that PP does no follow up to make sure that the young teenage mother takes the second medicine, or to make sure that the child has been fully, completely discharged into the toilet. The fact is that if a young teenager kills her infant and has complications PP is not involved. The fact is that becomes a matter between the young girl and her local hospital.
If the facts aren’t enough to convince you, then perhaps prayer will. I will pray that your heart is softened to the beauty of life.
By all means, be my guest, Tim. Pray on if it helps you feel better.
Tim, life is a continuum: your fetish for a “beginning” shows how you use linear thinking. My rights did not come from a deity: they have come from years of struggle when ordinary people “spoke truth to power.”
Save your prayers for someone who needs them, like yourself.
Tim,
What you consider facts are clearly opinions.
The existence of God and whether life is a gift from God both cannot be proven and are therefore opinions.
Since the egg is alive before it is fertilized, you could say life begins even before conception. But you’re most likely talking about a soul, and there is no way to prove the existence of a soul so it too is an opinion.
The Declaration of Independence is not a governing document. The Constitution of the United States is and if you read it you’ll find no mention of God, that’s intentional. The statement that people are endowed with rights by some creator is good rhetoric in a notice to King George but it was not intended to govern our lives.
The Emancipation Proclamation is document limited in scope and intended to send a message to the rebellious states. It must be noted that it only applied to those states that seceded from the Union. So, from a moral standpoint I guess it said slavery was fine in certain states but not others.
Finally, the procedures Planned Parenthood uses are the same whether or not telemedicine is used or not. That’s the question here, whether telemedicine is an appropriate method of treating patients. You should not confuse this with your opinion that RU486 and abortion are immoral.
FYI, I am really impressed with life itself. It is at once wonderfully beautiful and shockingly cruel.
Firstly, Mr. Brody makes it sound like the woman walks into an empty clinic, logs on and talks only to a doctor miles away. Actually the woman is seen by a PA or nurse to assess risks and issues, that nurse then relays all of this information to the doctor who asks follow up questions and then issues the pill.
I frequently am issued prescriptions by a doctor who never even touched me because the PA did the exam.
Secondly,
Did he really say “maintain their profit margin and abortion quotas”? Give me a break. PP doesn’t turn a profit being a non-profit and the idea of abortion quotas reeks of fringe conspiracy theory.