I would like to start with what my medical perspective would be on the issue of abortion. After college, I eventually plan on going to medical school and becoming a doctor. If I was ever faced with patients who wanted or needed an abortion for obvious health reasons, I would put my personal beliefs aside and consider what is best for their health and well-being.
I would offer every possible option for my patients and give them all the information possible. And if they chose to abort their child, then I would support their wishes, even though I might not agree with their decision.
It will be my job to do what’s best for my patients, not to do what I think is right. Don’t get me wrong though, I will still do whatever I can to persuade them to not abort their child. As a doctor, it will be my responsibility to help all my patients. That not only includes the mother but also their unborn child.
Doctors are supposed to save lives, not end them.
This statement becomes problematic in the case when someone dies either way. For example, you either save the dying mother during childbirth, or you save the child. The problem worsens if both the mother and the child are at risk of dying. In this case, it is understandable why a mother would choose abortion.
Abortion in the case of rape
Where the issue of abortion gets even trickier is in cases of rape. Again, as a doctor, I would support my patients with whatever they choose. However, I wouldn’t let them make the decision of aborting their child lightly.
While I understand that carrying and birthing the child of a rapist can completely destroy a mother mentally, emotionally and physically (especially if she’s a very young teenage girl), an unborn child should not be punished for the actions of their father.
They deserve a fighting chance, and if their mother won’t fight for them then I will, even if I lose.
A possible alternative for the mother could be to birth the child and give it up for adoption if she could not bear to raise the child herself. This decision is wholeheartedly up to the mother. In no way can I force any mother to do something they do not want to do.
I recognize that the foster care system might not be the greatest in the United States. However, if that’s the issue, then we should be fighting to make changes in the system rather than aborting unborn children.
All life has value
From the second a child is conceived, they have unique DNA that makes them their own human being. That immediately makes them a patient worth fighting for.
All life has value and how a child is conceived does not change their value. It’s just not right for people to choose which lives are worth keeping and which aren’t. This would make my position as a doctor very difficult but hopefully still rewarding in the end.
In the case of incest, this becomes difficult from a medical perspective. Incest often leads to birth defects and the continual spread of lethal recessive genes throughout the population. If that’s the case, then abortion may save more lives than it does end them.
While I’m not saying that abortions should be completely banned, I am saying that a mother should at least consider her child’s health and well-being before her own. Even if a mother ends up choosing her own life anyway, at least the life of the child was given some thought and not completely disregarded.
In the end, as a medical doctor, I will support whatever my patients decide in their best interest and well-being.
Editor’s note: Exactly one year ago today, my conservative views on abortion were published. I had fully intended on releasing a second part two weeks following the initial publication, but complications arose. Last year was an emotional time with all these abortion bans and heartbeat bills being passed in several states.
I actually decided that I wouldn’t publish a second part, for fear of unwanted backlash. It wasn’t until recently that I decided I would finally publish it after hearing a few NCC professors were talking about the article in their classes.
18 Comments
I hope you don’t become a doctor.
Just because he doesn’t have the same opinion as you doesn’t mean he shouldn’t be a doctor. He is very intelligent and that doesn’t change because of his certain views on life. He values life in a different way than you do and if you were a decent human being what so ever then you would respect his beliefs, you don’t have to have the same opinion but you should respect it. It is because of people like you that cause problems like this, don’t send hate to others, and don’t hope that they don’t get to have their dream job because of differing opinions. You could have simply said “I don’t have the same opinions as you, but the article was very well written”, or you could have saved your time and not replied at all. In his article he says, “In the end, as a medical doctor, I will support whatever my patients decide in their best interest and well-being.” He is LITERALLY saying that no matter what his personal opinions are he will always support his patients and the decisions that they choose to make, so I am really not sure what the problem is. I think it was very rude for you to make a comment like that. If you want to make a comment it should be respectful or don’t comment at all.
The problem is that he mentioned multiple times that he would do anything to persuade his patients against abortion. The last thing a struggling girl needs is a guilt trip from her doctor that should have an objective opinion and not pressure their patients toward certain decisions.
Did you even read the article? If you did then you would realize that he only uses the word “persuade” ONE time throughout the whole article. He says in the prior sentence and I quote, “It will be my job to do what’s best for my patients, not to do what I think is right.” In the end, he is going to do whatever his patient wants no matter what his personal opinion is. He is not trying to “guilt trip” (your words, NOT the authors) his patients, he simply wants his patients to know all the possible options before making a big decision such as abortion, which could lead to big complications if not done properly. You said that a girl who is considering an abortion is probably a “struggling girl” (again your words), don’t you think that a struggling girl may find comfort in knowing that abortion isn’t the only answer to her problem. Did you ever think that that “struggling girl” was to scared to even ask if there was other options? Some women don’t want abortions, but they do it because they feel like there is no other options out there. This author would be the type of doctor to tell those girls that there are other options out there, this author would be the type of doctor that would provide comfort for those that are struggling, and this author would be the type of doctor that ” will support whatever my patients decide in their best interest and well-being.” You are looking at this article with only your point of view, if you would have read this article with an open mind then you would have realized that he said nothing wrong and in the end is going to be 100 percent supportive. No where in this article did he say he was going to “pressure” his patients as you mentioned. He wants to be the doctor that makes sure his patients know all of the options before making a life changing decision. If you have ever been to the doctors or have had a procedure/surgery then you know that they should be telling you of all the options possible, and this is what he is doing. The problem with you and majority of the people reading this article is that you are so closed minded that you only read what you thought you wanted to read. You claimed he was going to “guilt” and “pressure” his patients, which were words that were never even used in the article, you are trying to argue things that were never even said. However, in your irrelevant comment you never mentioned how many times that he says he is going to “support” or “do what is best” for the patient. I recommend before you make an “argument” you should fully read the article, because half of what you claim in your comment was not mentioned in this article.
Daaaaaaaaamn!!! 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
Did you even read the article? The author clearly states he will hold the opinion of the patients over his own personal beliefs… I don’t really understand the point of your comment, it didn’t provide any reasoning to why you disagree with the author or even why he is wrong. You simply spouted toxic unnecessary crap for your own amusement. You do realize that many doctors are against abortion and that is not a disqualifying attribute to becoming a doctor…
In any regard your toxic comment is irrelevant, this article was very well prepared and talks about things many people are afraid to say. That being said seeing these sorts of articles are actually good for bringing opposing sides together, because it talks about the points rationally.
Jesus christ, kid. If I were you I would delete this article before any of the admissions chairs at the medical schools to which you are applying can find it. Tons of worrying stuff in here.
Agreed!
Excellent article!!!
Very well written. You will make a phenomenal doctor. It is clear that you know how to balance advocating for the lives unborn children with fully informing the mother of her options.
I agree, if people are afraid of putting children into the foster system, then it is reforming foster care that we should be focused on.
Every doctor comes in the room with their own set of beliefs. Jack believes that a child is his patient as soon as it is conceived and he shares this belief with roughly half of the population.
He acknowledges that this is not an easy decision for the patient. Yes, choosing to birth a rapist’s child would be incredibly terrifying and scarring to the mom’s mental health, but, aborting a child would also be those things. If she chooses to abort, she will have to live the rest of her life knowing that she took a life, a life with half of her own DNA. For all we know, the mother may have more trauma from aborting the child than she would if she saved the child from the horrific actions of its father. Either way, this is undoubtedly a life-changing decision that she will carry with her and Jack would simply ensure that she has given it careful consideration. If, hypothetically, you are given a choice between living 6 more months and undergoing a risky operation, you wouldn’t want a doctor that immediately accepts what you think you want in the heat of the moment before you understand the risks of the surgery and the weight of your decision. Rather, you would want a doctor like Jack that will sit with you and make sure that you understand the pros and cons of both options before you make your life-altering decision. Jack will fight for this life when other doctors wouldn’t because he believes in putting his future patient’s lives before anything else. And while I myself do not have strong opinions on either side of the Life v. Choice debate, I do respect Jack for his beliefs and I am certain that if I was ever in such an unfortunate situation, that I would want Jack to be my doctor.
As for this column, Jack should not be attacked for his personal views. It is clear that he shares these opinions with many other people. Unlike Jack, however, these people are too afraid to voice their opinions because they are aware that they will immediately be attacked. Jack is trying to foster a conversation that is difficult to have, and that is truly commendable. These awful, insulting comments are doing nothing but highlighting the importance of what Jack is doing in his column.
MDPhD here. You should not be pursuading rape victims to endure the trauma of baring their rapist’s child for 9 months so that you can sleep better at night. You WILL NOT make it in the field if you display such a disgusting lack of empathy towards someone that has had a life magnitudes more difficult than yours. Don’t delete the post, I want admissions chairs to see this so that you never get the chance to tarnish the reputation of hardworking doctors like myself.
Honestly whoever you are I am not even sure why you wasted your time commenting and honestly with the comment that you left I am not even sure how you ever made it through MDPhD. None of what the author says in his article is so that he could “sleep better at night”. He wants to be the type of doctor that is completely invested in ALL of his patients, even his patients that have not been born yet. If you were such a good doctor then you would have read this article with an open mind and instead the only thing that you took away from this article is that he wants to persuade people to endure trauma. If you would have FULLY read this article with an open mind then you would have seen all of the times where he mentions that he wants to do what is right for his patient and he wants to do what is best for them. He wants to be the type of doctor that just makes sure that his patients know all of their options before making a LIFE CHANGING decision, but ensures that he will support whatever decision they decide. Honestly if I was you I would take notes from him and use this as a learning experience because based off what you have to say not only do you sound like a horrible doctor, but a horrible person. If I was going through something traumatic I would want my doctor to provide me with all my possible options AS ALL DOCTORS SHOULD. You also said in your comment “You WILL NOT make it in the field if you display a disgusting lack of empathy towards someone that has had a life magnitudes more difficult than yours”, how do you know that this author hasn’t endured any sort of hardship in his life? How do you know that this person doesn’t have a difficult life and maybe struggling with something? YOU DON’T, YOU’RE JUST ASSUMING. AS A DOCTOR SHOULDN’T YOU KNOW TO NEVER ASSUME ANYTHING? ANY medical school would be lucky enough to have this author in their medical program, and you would be so lucky to work next to a doctor like him. For his sake I hope he doesn’t ever have to deal with rude, ignorant people like you. I would never want someone like you as my doctor and I really hope that when you’re dealing with patients you use your brain a little more than you are right now. Also if you would have seen, this is an OPINION article. It was an article he was asked to write about what he thinks. As I have previously mentioned if you would have fully read the article you would have seen that he shares his opinion in a RESPECTFUL manner. He doesn’t degrade anyone and he doesn’t wish negative thoughts on anyone else. He simply shares what he thinks and that’s it. As someone who is SUPPOSEDLY a doctor you should be supportive that he felt brave enough to discuss such a difficult topic, you should be supportive of someone who wants to study medicine and help others. You don’t have to agree with what he says because of course everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but you should respect him. You should respect that fact that he has different beliefs as you. I really do hope that you do use your brain more often and I really hope you are saving lives but honestly I am not sure how someone who can write such a DUMB comment be so SMART as to save other peoples lives.
You must be a family member. Nice to meet you!
Thank you for your irrelevant comments! They are much appreciated!
Ain’t nobody got time to read that lol. You must be bored in quarantine.
I apologize for the comment above, I wasn’t in my right mind last night. Kevin is completely right.
MDPhD here. You should not be pursuading patients to bare the child of their rapist so that you can sleep better at night, Jack. Your disgusting lack of empathy for someone that has had a life magnitudes more traumatizing than you could ever fathom is sickening, and I can assure you that you won’t last long in the field with this attitude. I hope admissions chairs see this so that you never get the chance to tarnish the moral reputation of hardworking doctors like myself. There may be typos in this, I am busy right now saving lives, something you will never do.