Prescribing Birth Control Is Against His Religious Beliefs

[Throckmorton]

Navy And Roman Catholic Doctor Struggle To Find Middle Ground

http://www.theday.com/eng/web/newstand/re.aspx?reIDx=8F0AE975-DFE2-4831-8B7C-974D9E942D26

[Muddleoftheroad]

1. Too bad I'm not on that hearing board

He'd be in Iraq in 24 hours. Yes, he has a right to NOT prescribe. However, he is in the military and his beliefs limit his use to either what he is doing or combat duty. Ooopsie.

[PVnRT]

2. Religious belief

should not enter into a doctor's judgment about what treatment to give or what drug to prescribe. If he can't do that, he needs to switch specialties.

[Auntie Bush]

3. What! He wants to go back to the days when women 7-9 kids?

To sum it all up....the man is a fool!

[Mandate My Ass]

4. Throw the bum out

This is typical RW, anti-choice, pseudo-science, psycho babble with no basis in fact. There is no proven link between abortion and breast cancer nor BCPs and breast cancer. Let him treat men only since his Xtian opinions on birth control prevent him from carrying out the Hippocratic Oath.


Messe's wife, Charnette, was diagnosed two years ago with breast cancer, which she blames on her use of contraceptives when she was younger and an abortion she had as a 20-year-old. She's now 33, and her husband is 35. They have two children, Gabrielle, 5, and Christian, 17 months.

“They say he's not a good doctor for women? I say he's the best doctor for women, because he won't prescribe something that can hurt them,” Charnette Messe said.

[Pithlet]

6. I'm considering

switching pediatricians because ours has a clip from an article stating there is a link between abortions and breast cancer pinned on the bulliten board in the exam room.

[11 Bravo]

5. Then he needs to find another fucking job!

n/t

[republicansareevil]

7. I'm torn on this issue in general (though not in this particular case).

I think the Navy offered him some reasonable options:
"Messe said his superior officers told him if he refused to prescribe birth control routinely, the Navy might have to limit his practice to people over the age of 40, send him to a Marine combat unit where he would not have to treat women, or discharge him from the service."

Maybe none of those is ideal for either side, but it seems like the Navy is at least trying to be flexible while Messe is not.

And I think it's outrageous that he is using his position to impose his religious beliefs on patients:
"'I will prescribe the pill for medical reasons,' Messe said. 'But I counsel my patients that natural family planning is healthiest. And in that way you're not interfering with God's plan for you.'
From 2000 until last year, if a female patient told him she wanted birth control, he would counsel her to talk to the nurse and arrange an appointment with another doctor."

The issue about birth control being dangerous just muddies the water. Does Messe object to prescribing it on religious grounds or medical grounds? There's quite a big difference. If he objects on medical grounds, I think he actually has less standing. The Navy ought to be able to impose basic medical policy that its doctors must adhere to.

In general, though, I do have some sympathy for doctors and other healthcare professionals whose religious beliefs conflict with certain areas of their job. If a reasonable accomodation can be made that does not unnecessarily inconvenience patients, I don't have a real big problem with that, as long as patients are made aware beforehand in a manner that is respectful to the patient and that provides an alternative. For example, a doctor who does not wish to perform abortions can simply say, "I don't perform abortions, but I will refer you to a nearby doctor that does," - it may be for religious reasons, personal reasons, insurance reasons, medical/facility reasons -- who knows? But in the Navy it's different because there aren't as many alternatives and because the doctor accepted a responsibility to do so.

[veganwitch]

8. i still dont understand why women would go to a male ob/byn

unless they did not have a choice.

i dont care how much schooling youve had, if you dont have a uterus, you aint touching mine.

[RobinA]

9. I Have a Choice

and I go to a male. I like him. I don't see why he needs a uterus. I have a uterus, and it wouldn't help me at all if somebody came to me with a GYN problem. Medicine is supposed to be science. I just want a person who knows his/her stuff, not somebody who can necessarily feel the same pain. I went to a female for awhile and didn't like her at all.