Doctor refuses to treat lesbians' baby.

[doggie]

maybe she thinks the gay will rub off or she is a closet gay herself?

[browncoatslytherin]

ER docs have been known to hold back vital info, like telling a rape victim about a morning-after pill to help prevent a pregnancy. Being in the ER doesn't stop docs from finding ways to assert their religion over patient rights.

i didn't mean that there wouldn't and couldn't be a way to discriminate, only that er's legally cannot turn people away for any reason. they have to treat them. how they treat them is up to the specific doctor/s on duty. but they will still be seen.

my point was more that this doctor refused to see the baby at all, and that i supposed it was a good thing she didn't work in the er, where she would be forced to interact with a range of people with differing race, religion, sexual orientation, and economic statuses. because, you know, gayby germs.

[Mama Mia]

why is it gays seems cause christians to ignore the rest of the bible.? it is like they fully forget christianity and just hate gays. what about helping others ? taking care of the sick? loving others as you love yourself? throw the bible out all that matters is hate the gays thats all god wants.

Aside from the lumping all Christians together as believing all sorts of things the statistics just don't bear out , which you do constantly. Seriously, is it THAT difficult to add in the word "extremist" or " fundamentalist" or even " some" ?

But why are people assuming the Doctor is Christian at all? The concepts of Prayer and God are hardly limited to Christianity.

[Idolatry]

i didn't mean that there wouldn't and couldn't be a way to discriminate, only that er's legally cannot turn people away for any reason. they have to treat them. how they treat them is up to the specific doctor/s on duty. but they will still be seen.

my point was more that this doctor refused to see the baby at all, and that i supposed it was a good thing she didn't work in the er, where she would be forced to interact with a range of people with differing race, religion, sexual orientation, and economic statuses. because, you know, gayby germs.

I hope that gay baby slobbered all over everything so that everyone turned gay.

[thoughtful]

I don't understand the reasoning behind the doctor refusing to treat the baby. The fact that she disapproves of homosexuality shouldn't have any relation to treating the baby, who is pre-sexual anyway and didn't choose her parents. I imagine that many doctors don't approve of various things that their patients do, from being anti-vaxx to not practicing safe sex, but they don't turn them away. This shows that this "religious freedom" thing is just a cover for legalized discrimination. It reminds me of a story Chris Rock told about his parents who were from South Carolina (I think). Back in the Jim Crow era, the only doctor in the town they were from that would treat black people was the veterinarian and when the white people found out about it, they stopped bringing their pets to that vet... :? :evil-eye: :shifty-kitty:

In both cases, it sounds to me like it's all about punishing someone -- in this case, the Moms for being themselves, and, in Rock's story, the veterinarian, for trying to help non-white people.

I guess you are too decent and logical to see the point to the "someone must be punished" mindset. I'm with you.

[Vex]

I'm not sure publically shaming bigots does anything to help, to be honest.

It's not going to make the bigot magically see gay people as human beings. If anything, they're going to hate gay people more.

It isn't going to make other bigots think twice about their bigotry. All it will do is make them hide it behind fake smiles and fake courtesy, and honestly, I'd much rather a person be upfront about hating gay people. Better the devil you know than the one you don't and all that. They have the law on their side, unfortunately. This person didn't even take the Hippocratic oath.

[doggie]

Aside from the lumping all Christians together as believing all sorts of things the statistics just don't bear out , which you do constantly. Seriously, is it THAT difficult to add in the word "extremist" or " fundamentalist" or even " some" ?

But why are people assuming the Doctor is Christian at all? The concepts of Prayer and God are hardly limited to Christianity.

Because I have a very bad habit of thinking people know what I am talking about so I tend to start in the middle or leave details out. Plus I am bad at communication so between those two I miss details. plus my hands are not accurate and my typing is really horrible so sometimes I am so busy fixing that I miss details. I have a hell of a time explaining things to a customer. but I admit my weakness and never seem to be able to really fix it. my friends will tell me they don't know what I am talking about so I backup and fill in the details. eve my wife has trouble following me. I think it is because whats in my mind is like I am talking about it I guess.

[NellieBell]

I cannot imagine how these moms felt when the hetero bomb was dropped on them. I would have been so angry that it would've been on the news that night. Their careful and timely reaction and consideration shows how sensible they are. Too bad the same can't be said for the doctor. Public bigotry and homophobia might just lead to early retirement for her.

[crazyforkate]

I don't care WHAT the law says. That doctor's still a total shit and I hope her patients all desert her.

[RosyDaisy]

Oh Boy! Looks like Michigan also has a bill pending that would allow EMTs to discriminate on sexual orientation too! Wouldn't want to do life-saving CPR on a gay.

(CBS News) http://www.cbsnews.com/news/bill-would- ... -patients/

I just showed this to fiancée, and he dropped a lot of F-bombs. He said it goes against his conscious to refuse emergency treatment to anyone. If an EMT refuses to treat his sister.....well...let's just say it won't be pretty.

[RosyDaisy]

I've said it before, and I'll say it again. Do not accept a job or choose a profession that may require you to do something that's against your religious beliefs or conscious. It's that damn simple!

[2xx1xy1JD]

I understand that there are some cases that warrant "firing" a patient, like extreme refusal to follow basic medical advice or someone totally disrupting the office or posing a risk of some sort, but these are really rare situations.

My husband gets along with some patients better than others. It never occurred to him that this should affect anyone's ability to get treatment from him. His patients comes from a wide variety of backgrounds and he doesn't agree with all of them, but that's simply not relevant.

A baby exist. It needs care. What religion exactly tells you not to provide basic medical care to a child (other than the ones that don't approve of medical care in general)? You need enough rapport to be able to get information about the baby's health and development from the parents, and to have them follow your advice or at least have a reasonable discussion if they disagree. That's it. The doctor doesn't need to give a stamp of approval for all lifestyle decisions.

[Trynn]

My creationist slightly homophobic (believes gays should have rights to marry because separation of church and state, but still believes homosexuality is a sin) father was an EMT for a while.

He would never have refused to treat a gay person. Especially not a fuckin baby. He would have been absolutely disgusted by the concept of refusing treatment for someone, but particularly a child who wasn't responsible for its parents' "sin."

[whoviana]

The thing with a person like this, who has to pray (talk to her homophobic inner voice) about it, probably better NOT become a baby's general practitioner. I can see them go ape shit crazy and mistreat the child because they believe it's better for the child to be in God's hands. This world is full of wackos and health institutions are no exception.

[RosyDaisy]

My personal favorite is fundie doctors who believe that a crying infant is possessed by demons. Seriously, a friend told me that.

[whoviana]

I can totally believe that. Cult members and/or fundies think that the big pharma is your enemy, that depression s god's punishment, that psychology is not of god and medications are ebil. I'd be seriously worried to leave a troubled child in their hands. They are freaking lunatics!

[moodygirl86]

My personal favorite is fundie doctors who believe that a crying infant is possessed by demons. Seriously, a friend told me that.

Presumably these medical "professionals" would have had to go through years of studying, like their non-fundie colleagues. How did they manage to get through all their courses without arguing the toss with their lecturers and telling them they're wrong about basic biological facts? The arrogance is astounding.

[crazyforkate]

My guess? Faking it while scoffing behind their backs until they have some kind of certification, then using their shiny new MD to unleash the crazy.

[OkToBeTakei]

The baby didn't choose her parents, who didn't choose their sexuality. But the doctor chose her job, with the condition that she help anyone coming to her who needs it. And she's fucked up miserably. She needs to move to Saudi or some other country where gay-shaming is actually legal, instead of inflicting it on the citizens of Michigan.

Problem is, it is not illegal to discriminate in Michigan apparently. So you don't have to move to Saudi for a good old bit of bigotry. Legal bigotry.

[Cleopatra7]

So if this refusal to treat LGBT people and their families thing catches on, will other "sinners" be affected? Will emergency room personnel stop treating gang members or organized crime members? Will inside traders or ponzi schemers be denied care? Pedophiles who get beaten or stabbed in prison? Drug dealers? Human traffickers? All of these groups of people have or are actively harming others and society, yet I don't hear about any health care professionals refusing to treat them. Why are law-abiding LGBT people the only group that are being singled out for non-treatment?

[BrownieMomma]

So if this refusal to treat LGBT people and their families thing catches on, will other "sinners" be affected? Will emergency room personnel stop treating gang members or organized crime members? Will inside traders or ponzi schemers be denied care? Pedophiles who get beaten or stabbed in prison? Drug dealers? Human traffickers? All of these groups of people have or are actively harming others and society, yet I don't hear about any health care professionals refusing to treat them. Why are law-abiding LGBT people the only group that are being singled out for non-treatment?

I imagine there are a lot of doctors in private practice who refuse patients all the time and we never hear about it. You can chalk that up to the "gay agenda" in which it manages to become news when its a gay couple yet not anyone else.

ER's can't pick and choose who to treat. Did you not read that earlier in this thread? Only doctors in private practice get to do that.

Although how bakers and florists don't get to choose their customers and instead lose their entire businesses but this doctor won't is rather mystifying.

[formergothardite]

I imagine there are a lot of doctors in private practice who refuse patients all the time and we never hear about it. You can chalk that up to the "gay agenda" in which it manages to become news when its a gay couple yet not anyone else.

ER's can't pick and choose who to treat. Did you not read that earlier in this thread? Only doctors in private practice get to do that.

Although how bakers and florists don't get to choose their customers and instead lose their entire businesses but this doctor won't is rather mystifying.

I imagine that if a doctor refused to treat a baby because it is black or because the parents were interracial we would hear lots about it. Is that the "black agenda" you think? When a church refused to marry a black couple it was all over the news.

[Mama Mia]

I imagine that if a doctor refused to treat a baby because it is black or because the parents were interracial we would hear lots about it. Is that the "black agenda" you think? When a church refused to marry a black couple it was all over the news.

There are HUGE differences in the overall quality of care received by racial and ethnic minorities. Just like there are huge differences in incarceration rates -- for the exact same crimes. All you have to do is look at any set of statistics regarding mortality / morbidity for various diseases/ health conditions.

I'm not excusing this Doctor, at all, but I think people, particularly the media, tend to be pretty oblivious to the seriously racist and classist treatment in health care that is rampant in the UnitedStates. Any attempts to address it are usually met with some sort of patronizing " explanation" that boils down to " well if only those backwards brown/ black people would do what nice middle class white people do they wouldn't have these problems."

[formergothardite]

There are HUGE differences in the overall quality of care received by racial and ethnic minorities. Just like there are huge differences in incarceration rates -- for the exact same crimes. All you have to do is look at any set of statistics regarding mortality / morbidity for various diseases/ health conditions.

I'm not excusing this Doctor, at all, but I think people, particularly the media, tend to be pretty oblivious to the seriously racist and classist treatment in health care that is rampant in the UnitedStates. Any attempts to address it are usually met with some sort of patronizing " explanation" that boils down to " well if only those backwards brown/ black people would do what nice middle class white people do they wouldn't have these problems."

I'm not denying that, but if a doctor wrote a note to a parents saying that he could not treat the baby because the parents are interracial, you better believe it would be all over the news and the doctor would be shamed out of business.

[Bethella]

I'm not denying that, but if a doctor wrote a note to a parents saying that he could not treat the baby because the parents are interracial, you better believe it would be all over the news and the doctor would be shamed out of business.

No, in the case of a child of interracial parents the doctor wouldn't be shammed out of business. The doctor would be facing legal ramifications because discrimination based on race is illegal.