For many families, learning that there will be a new addition to the family is generally an exciting time. The realization that a new human being is forming in the womb is an awesome concept and miracle of life.
In today’s world of modern medicine, most women look forward to going to their doctor to find out how their pregnancy is coming along. Is the new mom to be healthy? Is the baby healthy? Is there anything that the new mom needs to be doing or not doing? What about vitamins and supplements? Dozens of questions to ask and one would expect their medical physician to answer.
So how would you feel if you knew that your doctor doesn’t have to tell you the truth of how your unborn baby is doing? Or how would feel if you knew that your doctor could be lying to you about the miracle forming in your womb? Could you trust anything the doctor tells you?
If you live in Texas, that may soon be a concern.
The Texas Senate recently passed a bill, Senate Bill 25, that would allow your doctor to lie to you about your unborn child and prevent you from suing that doctor for not telling you the truth.
According to a recent report:
“Senate Bill 25, which will now be sent to the Texas House, prevents parents from suing their medical provider if their baby is born with disabilities, even if that doctor discovered the condition during routine prenatal testing and failed to inform the parents.”
“The architects of the so-called ‘wrongful-birth’ bill have argued it would protect children with disabilities and prevent doctors from facing unnecessary lawsuits. ‘It is unacceptable that doctors can be penalized for embracing the sanctity of life,’ Senator Brandon Creighton (R-TX) said in a press release when he introduced the legislation last fall.”
While the bill is intended to protect children with disabilities, it also raises ethical questions on being able to trust one’s doctor to tell the truth. Many doctors are pro-life and do not believe in abortion and have hidden the truth of problems from expecting parents. This bill is intended to legally protect those doctors who practice according to their beliefs. However, the bill does not protect doctors from being sued for negligent behavior and they can still face malpractice suits for that negligence.
Abortion advocates, of which I am not, argue that the bill is nothing more than a ploy to prevent a parent from having the option to abort – murder – their unborn child if he or she is discovered to have some form of disability.
Heather Busby, Executive Director at NARAL Pro-Choice Texas, told the media:
“SB 25 would allow doctors to lie to their patients.”
“[It] is another thinly veiled attempt to prevent Texans from accessing their constitutional right to abortion.”
Whether you believe in the sanctity of life or not, this bill is still unnerving as it will allow doctors to lie to patients. Even though their intentions are good and ethical, the underlying question is whether or not expectant parents, moms especially, can trust their doctors to tell them the truth?
As much as I condemn abortion because it is murdering an innocent child, I also condemn lying, for whatever reason. If you cannot trust your doctor to tell you the truth about the condition or health of your child, how can you trust he or she on any other health related matters?
Even if you did not believe in abortion, wouldn’t you want to know the truth if there was anything wrong with your developing baby? Wouldn’t you want to know so you could be prepared for any special needs a disabled child may require?
Regardless if one is pro-life or pro-choice, Texas Senate Bill 25 is a bad bill and should never be passed. It will only serve to undermine confidence in one’s doctor.
Fine, will the doctor bear the financial burden of raising a severely disabled child? How about just raising the child as their own? After all, THEY made the decision to bring the child to term. What about the rights of the parents? They paid to have the testing done, do they not have a right to the results? This is my biggest fear with government healthcare- face it, if you let the gov’t decide what healthcare you have, you have given the govt the opportunity and the right to eliminate your life when they find you inconvenient
This bill encourages doctors to lie to their patients about their unborn child about conditions which would effect both the parents and child for the rest of their lives.
Any bill encouraging deceitful practices between a doctor and their patient is foundationally deficient and should not be supported in any way. I am normally a fan of TX legislature but they missed the mark here badly and have failed their constituency.