The Confusion Of Abortion Advocates
Regarding "Judges question abortion law critics" (Monday Front Page), I was surprised to read that the AMA (American Medical Association) and ACOG (American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists) filed friend-of-the-court briefs claiming "there is simply no medical basis” behind the law’s requirement for practitioners to have hospital admitting privileges because “hospitalization due to an abortion is rare."
Regarding "Judges question abortion law critics" (Monday Front Page), I was surprised to read that the AMA (American Medical Association) and ACOG (American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists) filed friend-of-the-court briefs claiming "there is simply no medical basis” behind the law’s requirement for practitioners to have hospital admitting privileges because “hospitalization due to an abortion is rare."
According to the National Institutes Of Health, over .5% of abortions result in complications and 6 of every 100,000 end with the death of the mother. At roughly 75,000 abortions in Texas per year, that's close to 500 Texas women at risk and five that are likely to die from the procedure. Exactly how great would the risk have to be before the AMA or ACOG decided admitting privileges were warranted?
This is also a substantial policy reversal by both organizations, who in 2003 approved a statement on the regulation of outpatient procedures that was co-authored by the ACS (American College of Surgeons) and the AMA. One of the core principles stated in part: "Physicians performing office-based surgery must have admitting privileges at a nearby hospital....". Check it out: http://www.facs.org/fellows_
Further confusing matters is the testimony by abortion rights activists at the same hearing that various Texas hospitals refuse to cooperate in providing abortion providers admitting privileges. Why you would argue about needing admitting privileges when the AMA and ACOG claimed they weren't necessary in the first place?
Rhetoric aside, surely women who experience complications during an abortion are as entitled to be admitted to a hospital as patients who undergo any other outpatient procedure. The arguments that abortion advocates put forward about hospital admitting do nothing to clarify the issue, which is why I look forward to a follow-up article that hopefully will.
Pete Smith, Cypress
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http://www.chron.com/opinion/letters/article/Friday-letters-Physicians-Social-Security-5129239.php
http://www.chron.com/opinion/letters/article/Friday-letters-Physicians-Social-Security-5129239.php
Its the math that gets them...
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