{"id":163156,"date":"2017-02-27T10:44:27","date_gmt":"2017-02-27T15:44:27","guid":{"rendered":"\/news\/?p=163156"},"modified":"2017-02-27T00:58:51","modified_gmt":"2017-02-27T05:58:51","slug":"abortionists-are-grade-b-doctors-says-obgyn-other-doctors-agree","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/abortionists-are-grade-b-doctors-says-obgyn-other-doctors-agree\/","title":{"rendered":"Abortionists are “Grade B doctors” says OBGYN. Other doctors agree."},"content":{"rendered":"
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Jack Hitt interviewed a number of abortionists for his article, \u201cWho Will Do Abortions Here?\u201d One common theme running through the article and Hitt’s interviews is the stigma the medical community has against\u00a0those who commit abortions. Often, this stigma arises from the knowledge that most abortionists are not good doctors.<\/p>\n

In Hitt’s article, one abortionist says, \u201cA lot of doctors don\u2019t want partners who perform the service.\u201d(1)<\/p>\n

Hitt explains that the explainable reluctance of doctors to work with those who do abortions is one reason why 90% of all abortions take place in freestanding abortion facilities and not in doctor\u2019s offices or hospitals. Hitt says:<\/p>\n

This phenomenon has played a concrete role in moving abortion off the main street of prestigious American medicine for the half hidden back alley from where it once emerged.(2)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

There is a high complication rate among abortionists, and many abortionists have malpractice suits and tarnished records. One need only look at AbortionDocs.com<\/a> to see how often abortionists have botched procedures or worked in filthy conditions.<\/p>\n

One\u00a0OB\/GYN who is pro-choice but does not perform abortions himself says:<\/p>\n

It\u2019s seen as the dirty work of our field. The sad truth is that the people who moonlight at the clinics are grade-B doctors. They\u2019re not the cream of the crop. And it\u2019s not because they\u2019re committed. It\u2019s because they can\u2019t find steady work.(3)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Abortionists are the rejects of medicine, those who can\u2019t make a living any other way.<\/p>\n

An abortionist currently in practice confirms this:<\/p>\n

It\u2019s true that abortion providers are perceived as not very good doctors \u2013 that they have no alternative so they do abortions, that they cannot earn a living any other way.(4)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Not only do a great number of\u00a0abortion doctors have bad records, but many of them also treat patients horribly. A recent Live Action article<\/a> collected stories of abortionists who were abusive towards patients and staff.<\/p>\n

Abortion is so stigmatized in the medical community that doctors don\u2019t want to be associated with it in any way. One resident says:<\/p>\n

I was thinking of doing a study last year. I wanted to look at different gestational ages and then compare them to outcomes among different types of abortion. But then I started to think, well, gosh, wait a minute, I don\u2019t want to end up being known as the abortion person \u2013 do you know what I mean?(5)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Even doing research related to abortion can stigmatize a doctor.<\/p>\n

Dr. Jane Hodgson, described by Hitt as an \u201cabortion pioneer\u201d who performed abortions for years, says:<\/p>\n

You can look at any medical meeting of any kind in recent history. You will not find a single paper given on abortion.(6)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

There have been similar statements about the nature of abortionists and the abortion industry in other sources.<\/p>\n

In the book, “Abortion and the Private Practice of Medicine,”\u00a0<\/em>an abortionist says:<\/p>\n

I hate doing [abortions], but I do them every once in a while. But the real reason we try to avoid them is that I don\u2019t want to be known as a local abortionist. I want to be known as a doctor who loves mommies and their babies. I don\u2019t care what is said, there\u2019s a stigma attached to doing abortions.(7)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Another abortionist say<\/a>s<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Many of my colleagues, if they know at all what I do\u00a0\u2026 think that abortion work is for doctors who can\u2019t do anything else. They would rather not know about me or our patients, preferring to imagine that none of this goes on either for me or them.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Abortionist Dr. Nancy Stanwood explains<\/a>:<\/p>\n

There still persists to this day almost 40 years after Roe<\/em> this perception that any doctor who would do abortions on a regular basis…those who make it a part of their integrated practice \u2014 that they must be quacks or bad doctors. There\u2019s this stigma of the abortionist that \u2014 two generations later \u2014 still looms large.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

An article in Glamour magazine reported:<\/p>\n

[Hospital administrators say] abortion is a sleazy and offensive procedure\u2026 The doctor who does abortions \u2013 even if they are only a small part of her practice \u2013 is known as an abortionist\u2026 This label is the kiss of death for any professional hopes a doctor might have.(8)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The reason why legitimate doctors consider abortionists to be bad doctors is because, for the most part, they are. After all, why would a doctor want to work in such a stigmatized field? It is often\u00a0because they can’t make a living any other way. Abortion work is often the field of medicine where a doctor can keep injuring women and still stay in practice, often due to a lack of state inspections or regulations that could protect women<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Here are a few examples.<\/p>\n