Missouri physicians urge voters to support Amendment 3 for safe and legal abortion | Opinion
Doctors take an oath to care for our patients to the best of our ability, to approach them without judgment, and to treat them with dignity and privacy. Unfortunately, for Missouri physicians, our state's abortion ban has been getting in the way of our ability to do our jobs. That's why over 500 Missouri physicians, and over 800 Missouri medical professionals total, endorsed Amendment 3. It's time to end Missouri's abortion ban and put private medical decisions around pregnancy and abortion back in the hands of patients.
Physicians get to know our patients over months, years, even decades. We learn our patients' stories, get to know their families, and ask about their goals as well as their health concerns. Along with our fellow health care providers, we take our patients' privacy very seriously. Above all else, our top priority is to protect the health and well-being of our patients.
Missouri's total abortion ban is preventing doctors from doing our jobs — and that is putting patients at risk and making them suffer. Case in point, the ban has no exceptions for rape or incest. Survivors of these unspeakable traumas are being denied the health care they need when they deserve compassionate, timely, private care the most. But some politicians in Jefferson City have decided that their beliefs are more important than survivors getting essential health care.
Doctors study and train for years to be able to assess health situations and use their judgment and experience to make timely calls for the care that is needed. We know first-hand that life-threatening complications aren't black or white, and one-size-fits all laws blatantly ignore the complexities of health and medicine. Abortion bans, including Missouri's, force doctors who understandably don't want to go to prison to ask how close a patient must be to death before they can act. These bans force physicians to get a hold of a lawyer before they can intervene, delaying care and wasting precious time while a patient is suffering, bleeding, and risking their health or life.
Doctors and medical professionals shouldn't have to sit on the sidelines while our patients suffer needlessly. We shouldn't have to send our patients across state lines for care they should be able to get close to home. We should be able to use our full training and experience to reduce patients' suffering, preserve their health and fertility, and keep them alive.
Missouri doctors and medical professionals urge you to stand with us and get politicians out of our exam rooms. Let's vote YES on Amendment 3 on November 5 to put patients, their families, and their doctors — not politicians — back in charge of personal medical decisions.
