Forum, 10-7: Doctors oppose HB1215

By Marvin Buehner, M.D., board certified in obstetrics/gynecology and family practice. | Saturday, October 07, 2006

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In a little over one month, South Dakota voters will decide the fate of the most rigid abortion ban in the United States. Although we already have some of the most restrictive abortion laws and the second fewest abortions in the nation, our legislature passed and our governor signed into law a ban on virtually all abortions except "to prevent the death of the mother."

The South Dakota Section of the American College of Physicians and Gynecologists (ACOG), the leading professional association of physicians who specialize in the health care of women, has just released a comprehensive condemnation of this harsh law and strongly urged its repeal. Some of the major objections include:

n Lack of a health exception. Permitting abortion to prevent a mother's death but not to preserve her health reveals a dangerous misunderstanding of medical management of pregnancy. It is not possible to know in advance when a serious health-threatening condition during pregnancy can become life-threatening. The only abortion allowed under this law is that which averts the imminent death of the woman. Not the abortion that prevents kidney failure, or blindness in diabetic patients. Not the termination that allows a cancer patient to begin prompt treatment. Not the induction of labor to preserve the health of the patient with prematurely ruptured membranes who risks serious infection and bleeding if treatment is delayed.

Right now these patients are treated every day by caring physicians across South Dakota. These patients currently have the right to discuss options with and receive treatment by their personal physicians in their community hospitals. Under HB1215 all that would change. The government would dictate how a doctor treats his or her patients. As the ACOG statement says: "We physicians are placed in the unconscionable position of either treating our patients in a medically appropriate fashion and being prosecuted as criminals under this ban, or not treating appropriately and not only facing claims of negligence but, worse, seeing our patients suffer." Doctors and our patients do in fact have a great deal to fear from this harsh bill.

n Lack of exception for lethal birth defects. Under this new law, patients whose babies have deformities so severe they would not survive outside the womb would be forced to carry their pregnancies to term, only to watch them die.

n Lack of exception for victims of rape or incest. The legislators who passed this law specifically refused an exception for rape and incest. Rapes are reported at a rate of about one per day in our state. One in four girls will be victims of sexual assault before age 18. Girls and women unwillingly impregnated will have to leave the state even to discuss termination with a medical professional.

Emergency contraception is not an exception. Emergency contraception is just that - it is contraception. It is not abortion and it is not an exception under HB1215. It is only effective within 72 hours of unprotected sex and does not guarantee to prevent pregnancy. It is not an option for victims of violent sexual attacks who might take weeks to come forward, if they do at all. And incredibly, the abortion ban supporters who brought you this law have also made it more difficult to access emergency contraception especially in rural areas of the state - and are continuing to work to restrict access to it. So they are touting emergency contraception as an "option" now, but will it be one tomorrow?

At its annual meeting in June, the South Dakota State Medical Association, another leading physician organization, issued a Policy Statement regarding abortion to "strongly condemn interference by the government ... that causes a physician to compromise his or her medical judgment as to what information or treatment is in the best interest of the patients."

A poll of South Dakota physicians revealed that 70 percent of physician respondents were opposed to HB1215. And another survey showed that approximately 80 percent of South Dakota doctors specializing in women's health care are in favor of repealing this terrible law.

Please listen to these physicians. Look up www.acog.org for the full analysis of the health consequences of this ban. Take time to read the material made available by those doctors who know about the care of pregnancy complications and who truly understand female reproduction and contraception because they have dedicated their lives to expertise in women's health care.

The abortion ban takes a private decision from a woman and her doctor, and gives it to the state. Vote No on Referred Law 6!