Horrible on so many levels...
Jun. 15th, 2006 02:36 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
moominmuppetMy brother just posted an article about egregious malpractice at a clinic in AL (warning, even as brief as the article is, there's some seriously disturbing imagery involved)
These kinds of things upset me for so many reasons.
First of all, I believe everyone should be getting good, respectful, competent health care in general. And when that doesn't happen, it makes me angry.
Secondly, with the polarization around women's reproductive health care in the US, it's getting harder and harder to deal with problem situations -- sometimes it's "yeah, that provider/clinic/whatever kinda sucks, but it's better than not having one at all", sometimes it's about how to deal with medical concerns like trying to figure out what connection, if any, there might be between clostridium infections and mifepristone, and how to minimize risk, or how to deal with post-abortion counseling, or with the risks and side-effects of contraceptives, without everything we do being turned against us to try to take away our access.
The complexities of reality don't fit black and white politics well at all, and the problem is that if one side acknowledges complexities, and the other doesn't, the side with the better soundbites gets the political advantage.
Which is just totally fucked.
*headdesk*
It reminds me a lot of one of the conversations I have over and over again when I'm escorting. Several of the antis shout and carry signs about "abortion and the pill cause cancer". When patients ask about it I explain the whole debunked abortion/cancer thing, but the conversation gets more complex when it comes to the Pill. I talk about how it increases some risks, decreases others, how family history and risk factors have to play a major role in deciding whether it's right for you, how it's a complicated topic that they're oversimplifying for a political scare tactic.
But it's sure as hell easier to fit "Abortion and the Pill Cause Cancer" on a sign than it is to cover what I discuss, even informally and casually.
These kinds of things upset me for so many reasons.
First of all, I believe everyone should be getting good, respectful, competent health care in general. And when that doesn't happen, it makes me angry.
Secondly, with the polarization around women's reproductive health care in the US, it's getting harder and harder to deal with problem situations -- sometimes it's "yeah, that provider/clinic/whatever kinda sucks, but it's better than not having one at all", sometimes it's about how to deal with medical concerns like trying to figure out what connection, if any, there might be between clostridium infections and mifepristone, and how to minimize risk, or how to deal with post-abortion counseling, or with the risks and side-effects of contraceptives, without everything we do being turned against us to try to take away our access.
The complexities of reality don't fit black and white politics well at all, and the problem is that if one side acknowledges complexities, and the other doesn't, the side with the better soundbites gets the political advantage.
Which is just totally fucked.
*headdesk*
It reminds me a lot of one of the conversations I have over and over again when I'm escorting. Several of the antis shout and carry signs about "abortion and the pill cause cancer". When patients ask about it I explain the whole debunked abortion/cancer thing, but the conversation gets more complex when it comes to the Pill. I talk about how it increases some risks, decreases others, how family history and risk factors have to play a major role in deciding whether it's right for you, how it's a complicated topic that they're oversimplifying for a political scare tactic.
But it's sure as hell easier to fit "Abortion and the Pill Cause Cancer" on a sign than it is to cover what I discuss, even informally and casually.
