on birth certificates and birth control – the culture clash

So, I am called a bully by Charles McVety for suggesting Rob Ford, as mayor of the city hosting World Pride, should attend the festivities but Charles believes he is within the bounds of human sanity for demanding that it is appropriate to deny a woman access to birth control and then force her to carry an unwanted pregnancy to term! You will hear me say that it is okay for a doctor to deny birth control if his or her choice to do so is publicly displayed prior to a woman disclosing to that doctor that she wants a prescription for it. Like a warning label. “DO NOT ENTER IF YOU WISH TO AVOID RELIGIOUSLY BASED IDEOLOGY” or something like that. A woman seeking birth control can be vulnerable; heck, anyone seeking any medical advice or assistance is vulnerable. The physician’s position is rarely other than one of power. Many years ago, in the weeks leading up to some gynecological surgery, tragedy struck my surgeon’s family and he was no longer able to care for me. I was referred to another doctor for the surgery but, when I arrived at the office, I was advised I would be seen by yet another doctor. I didn’t have a problem with that as I hadn’t met the doctor my referral had been to anyway so blithely agreed to see this new unknown. Remember, I was there because I required surgery so my expectation was that I was seeing the doctor who would be performing that surgery. For some reason, he said he needed to do a vaginal examination, known to women as an internal. I didn’t really understand why that was so since everything he needed to know was in my chart and the surgery was being done through a previous abdominal incision but I disrobed anyway (it’s the vulnerable/power thing) and he did the internal. Once I had dressed again and returned to his office, he advised me that he had no surgical privileges at any hospital and so would not be doing the surgery and I would have to see the other doctor at another time. I felt totally violated. So, you see, I’m sensitive to full disclosure. The examination by that doctor was entirely unwarranted and, if not sexual abuse, certainly bordered on it. On a lighter note, here’s our morning conversation. Get your coffee and pretend you were there!