OB-GYN Pens Op-Ed To Tell Lawmakers She’s Still Providing Abortions

By
Carissa House-Dunphy
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Among all the voices being raised in the current debate about the extreme anti-abortion laws passed in Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Ohio, and Missouri, it was ultimately a majority of white, male voices who decided women’s fate. Now, a prominent female ob-gyn from Alabama is weighing in, and she’s speaking from years of experience.

Despite the Draconian laws coming out of the left that very much puts women’s lives on the line in the name of divisive rhetoric over who should be able to make reproductive healthcare decisions for women, the only other person whose voice should matter in that moment is the woman’s doctor. And this doctor had a lot to say.

In an op-ed for CNN, Dr. Yashica Robinson wrote:

‘The new law, which does not take effect for six months and faces inevitable court challenges, will not change my daily routine as an OB-GYN. Just as I have for the last 15 years of my medical career, I will continue to deliver babies, give prenatal care — and provide abortions.

‘As a mother and a physician, this abortion ban is deeply personal. I carry both these identities with me as I care for women and honor their decisions to become parents or to terminate their pregnancies.’

Dr. Robinson isn’t just speaking from her experience as a doctor, but as a woman and a mother. It is these voices that matter most in the ongoing debate.

‘I understand the struggle to make that choice. I became pregnant when I was in high school. Because of my fear and lack of resources, I didn’t confide in my mother or grandmother until it was too late to have an abortion. I love my children with all my heart, but I know that everyone should be able to make this decision for themselves.’

While there seems to be some notion that women who have abortions use it as some form of birth control because they’re having tons of sex with random guys (and more power to the ones who are), Dr. Robinson reminded readers of the very real health decisions women are forced to make during pregnancy.

‘I am frightened for Alabamians because, should this law ever go into effect, doctors like me will leave Alabama rather than stay and practice substandard medicine. And I am afraid for patients, particularly when I reflect on treatment I recently provided for one woman. She was 22 weeks pregnant and had a condition called preeclampsia, which is when high blood pressure puts the health of the mother and baby at risk and can result in death. The only option in that situation was to immediately deliver.’

In the country with the highest maternal death rate in the developed world, the right to make that choice for one’s self is critical. Without doctors like Yashica Robinson, women will be left to substandard care that values their wombs more than the women they treat as a person.

‘I fear what could happen to women in this situation if the law and its criminal penalties go into effect. Physicians will hesitate in how to care for complex health situations — and Alabama is already a state with an unconscionably high maternal mortality rate.

‘According to the Alabama Department of Public Health, in 2017, there were 31 pregnancy-related deaths out of 100,000 live births for white women. That number more than doubled for black women. When compared to the CDC’s national average figures of 12.4 deaths per 100,000 for white women and 40 deaths per 100,000 for black women, these numbers are particularly stark.’

Featured image via Flickr by Brienne under a Creative Commons license



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