Prop 4: Abortion Waiting Period and Parental Notification Initiative

For those of you who haven't read up on the propositions yet, Proposition 4 is on the ballot this year in California.

The initiative prohibits abortion for unemancipated minors until 48 hours after physician notifies minor’s parent, legal guardian or, if parental abuse has been reported, an alternative adult family member.

It's also called "Sarah's Law" after a 13-year-old girl who passed away from a botched abortion after having a relationship with a 39-year-old sexual predator, Gary Cross. When she became pregnant, he took her to an abortion clinic and then resumed sexual relations with her, all without her parents' knowledge. Sarah's mom found out about the abortion after coming across related paperwork in her daughter's room.

Anti-Prop 4 arguments include the very realistic fear that more minors will opt for illegal and dangerous abortions. Communication between minors and their parents/guardians is never uncomplicated; teens probably fear that their parents would react irrationally and/or hurt them. Whether that fear is real or perceived, it affects a minor's behavior at such a crucial, traumatic moment. Another argument cited is that no law can mandate family communication; rather, it's something that has to come naturally. And what if it doesn't? Then take the lesser evil, because a safe abortion is better than an illegal one.

I am against abortion. I think it's killing an innocent being that was meant for life, if not for our intervention (ie, abortive procedure). Does this mean that I don't care about the poor minor in this traumatic situation?

Of course I care. But I think instead of figuring out ways to deal with the symptom of the problem, such as rules regarding abortion among minors, we need to concentrate really hard on figuring out ways to reduce unwanted pregnancies. Of course, they will still happen. But when they do, we need a plan. A plan that supports life--both the life of the baby and the life of its young parents (who are kids themselves). Two wrongs don't make a right; there's no real way to undo a pregnancy. Does having an abortion make a minor whose had a sexual relationship mentally sound and "over it"? I don't think so, having been through a pretty rocky decade myself at that age. It's short term relief, but the emotional wounds leave big scars you have to deal with sooner or later.

I don't have a real answer. I just know that what needs to be done is to focus on prevention, and on building a society where support systems are in place for minors who would be at risk for this kind of behavior. And when sex and unwanted pregnancy happen, there should be support for that, too. There are plenty of young people who DO choose to carry their babies to term. What makes them different? Probably less hopelessness, more of a support system, more emotional maturity. Doesn't every minor deserve that, pregnant or not?

In a way, maybe Prop 4 will help some families. I agree that it will backfire in many ways, particularly in families where communication isn't possible. I know in my own family, when I was a minor, communication definitely didn't feel AT ALL possible, so I can only imagine what it's like in families with more diverse challenges. But in those families where parents or guardians are ready to reach out and help their minor, maybe it will force-foster some needed healing. Because when a teen is pregnant and wants an abortion, clearly something isn't going right.

Ramblings, on becoming a doctor

“When we come to you
Our rags are torn off us
And you listen all over our naked body.
As to the cause of our illness
One glance at our rags would
Tell you more. Tis the same cause that wears out
Our bodies and our clothes”

From Bertoit Brecht's A Worker's Speech to a Doctor

I'm visiting home this weekend and am fascinated watching my sister interact with her newborn child. He is such a helpless little thing. As my sister said, anyone can do anything to him, and all he can do is cry. It's an obvious point, but I guess that degree of fragility is something we don't often encounter in daily life.

It got me thinking about the above excerpt from Brecht's poem. One of the reasons I love medicine as a profession is that people come to you with their problems, and you get to fix them. Anyone reading this will probably immediately think, "Oh yeah? Is that how it works? Because that isn't how it's been working!" Nevertheless, it is that idea(l) that attracts me to the field.

It's a scary thought, not to be taken lightly. As a physician, you are asking someone to come to you in their most vulnerable state, helpless as a baby (let's leave litigiousness aside for the moment). You have powerful drugs at your disposal, compounds that can wreak havoc on the body, or fix it instantly, or some compromise thereof.

Small things make a huge difference. Maybe your marriage is in trouble, or your teenager is a nightmare. Maybe you're depressed. Maybe your finances are suffering. Maybe you don't want to talk about it. Maybe you do. Maybe you shouldn't, but maybe you should.

How will I know if I don't ask?

Sometimes I frankly cannot believe that they let me into medical school. That assuming all goes according to plan, I will be a doctor and I will have this huge responsibility of someone's life in my hands. That I will have a pad on which I write treatments that could do a lot of damage to another human being. Or if I become a surgeon, that I will be fiddling around inside a fellow person.

But wasn't that the dream? Isn't this what I've been striving for, that very responsibility? Didn't I write in my medical school applications that there was nothing I wanted more than to be in this position?

And it's true, it is still true. There's nothing I want more. I don't know how this sounds, but I want to be a resource, a beacon for people. I want to be a giver like a tree that bears fruit. You pluck the fruit and it grows more, no problem, no questions asked. It bears so much fruit, in fact, that sometimes the tree bends over with the weight of its bounty. I want to be like that, if God wills it.

I pray I never forget what Brecht is referring to. The exquisite vulnerability of that moment with a patient. Eventually, it will be up to me: I can treat their symptoms (or what I perceive to be their symptoms), or I can treat them whole.

I'm sure I have no idea what I'm talking about right now, but I'm also sure that what I'm saying is true.