As a young woman who was not raised in an enlightened feminist way (my mother actually tried to have me in an arranged marriage at one point) there are still a lot of things that I am learning about feminism and what type of feminism that I align myself with most. Because of this I still debate a lot of things and try to figure out where I stand on these issues. I am staunchly prochoice. I believe that what a woman decides to do with her body is a decision that should be made between her and her doctor, and whoever she chooses to seek out for advice.
But at the same time in that situation I would never make that decision unless in meant my life was at stake if I continued on with the pregnancy. For me that would never be the right choice because I couldn't live with myself if I did that. I am going to school to become a doctor. In a few years I am going to have to make the decision whether or not I want to learn the procedure. So what I'm struggling with here is that is it unfeminist of me to choose not to learn to do the procedure? On one hand I think that it absolutely is because I as an activist for women's rights should be able to say see there is nothing wrong with it, but on the other hand, I'm really not comfortable with doing the procedure and I think that what feminism does is it gives all of us the choice to do what we want. I don't know what to do about this and while I don't want to just go along with other people I'd like to hear from others who have been in the situation and know if they went through the same kind of conundrum about learning the procedure.
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Well, what sort of doctor do you hope to become? I'd like to think that all OB/GYNs are trained and knowledgeable about all abortion procedures. If you're my eye doctor I don't care so much, so long as you're not picketing the clinic where I escort.
Oops, that sounded way harsh. So sorry. I don't mean "you" personally. You expressed your pro-choice views pretty clearly. I just mean, I don't give a thought to my doctor's medical training regarding abortion unless they are my OB/GYN. The only reason I would change eye doctors, for example, over the issue of abortion would be if I saw or read something that showed my doctor to be actively anti-choice.
I am actually not going into OBGYN I won't even be a practicing physician. I am going to go into epidemiology so I'll be working on research and such things for infectious diseases
Well...I really believe that if it's something that makes you really uncomfortable, then you shouldn't be forced to do it. Although, this line of logic can also be extended to pharmacists who refuse to give out birth control...it's hard to draw the line. I would hope that if you choose to not learn it, as a doctor, you would be able to refer your patients to someone who does do abortions. And also I'd hope that you'd go over all their options with them, including abortion, despite the fact that you don't do it.
Also, you have to think about how, if you do choose to be an abortion provider, it does actually come with dangers. You'll have people picketing outside your office, etc...that could get dangerous depending on the situation. It sucks that you'd have to think about this, but that is a valid concern...
I don't know if I actually helped or just mentioned a few things that you already know about. Good luck with your decision!
Are you planning on (or seriously considering) being an OB/Gyn? If not, I don't see why it would really matter whether you learn the procedure or not.
I am going into epidemiology, which is a type of infectious disease control, but you have to get your MD which requires that you to a rotation round of every area of medicine
Well, if you're sure you're going into epidemiology, you probably don't specifically need to learn how to do an abortion. But like you said, the point is to do a rotation of all areas of medicine. I think you should view learning this procedure as a central part of womens' health care, and something that you should know as part of this breadth requirement.
You might not be specializing as an OBGYN, but you are going to be a doctor. What if you find yourself someday stranded in some isolated place and some girl desperately needs an abortion? You never know what could happen, you could find yourself in a war zone, heck, the US could turn into a war zone in a few decades. As a doctor, you should at least have a basic knowledge of all these things that your med school and teachers feel are important.
You might never need or want to perform an abortion, but why cut yourself off from any chance of knowing how?
I wonder if there are any doctors who perform abortions despite knowing they would never choose one themselves.
I could easily see how someone might think it was the wrong choice in most cases, but still think that women have a right to make that choice for themselves. And since most women (physically or legally) need a doctor to do the procedure, the doctor is just being a tool that facilitates the woman's choice about her own body. You don't have to agree with every decision that you facilitate. You can help your friend move even if you don't approve of where she's moving. Its her choice, and you might tell her your opinion but you don't have to enforce that opinion on her.
On the other hand, maybe you care more about the choices you make, maybe you don't want to view yourself as a tool for someone else' choice about their body. That's fine. Most doctors don't perform abortions, and you certainly don't have to. But I don't think its an automatic given from your position, and its something you might possibly come to change your mind about as time goes on.
I don't think I'd worry about whether its feminist or not. I'd just think about learning as much as you can and keeping your options open. Your perspective might be changed by this experience, or it might further solidify your current views. But you'll never know if you opt out of even trying it.
What chances will you have to learn it later if you change your mind?
I get where you're coming from; in high school I refused to dissect a frog because I was vegetarian, but then, I wasn't going into a profession where I might need to know how to dissect things.
I think you should learn the procedure. There are lots of reasons, but here's a good one: you said you'd choose an abortion for yourself if your life was threatened. What if someday you have a patient who seriously will die if she doesn't get an abortion. What will you say to her? "Sorry, I didn't learn the procedure because I didn't want to perform it in other cases"?
You don't have to perform abortions throughout your career, but why limit your knowledge so early? You might have a change of heart someday, or a situation where you do agree with someone's need for an abortion. You might find the experience of learning how they're done to be useful in other ways, like, you could describe to a non-medical friend exactly what she'll be going through, so she can make a more informed decision.
I guess I just wouldn't cut myself off from learning something, even if I was probably never going to use it.
Also, what area of medicine are you going into? If you're going to be something like an OBGYN then you really should at least keep your options open by learning how its done. On the other hand, if you're absolutely sure you're going to be, say, a dermatologist, then maybe it isn't as important. But I still think its worth doing the class so you know.
I agree with everything in this comment, nothing more to add.
Also, I'm not sure, is it only OBGYN's who perform abortions, or do general doctors/surgeons ever do it too? Seems to me that any type of doctor could prescribe you the pills for a medical abortion, and any type of surgeon could probably handle a surgical one, but maybe there are rules about it.
I think if you are strongly pro-choice and you have a chance to learn it; I think you should. You don't have to perform them, but I think it will help you be a better doctor and pro-choice advocate.
I wouldn't worry about aligning yourself with types of feminism...they usually aren't as self-contained as people portray them, and all they do is set us up for contradiction (and I don't think contradictions are bad...we all have them/live with them in one way or another). My point is that the kinds of behaviors or decisions expected of us "as feminists" make us feel guilty about some of our decisions for that reason alone.
I guess I would ask, what if you decided the decision not to learn the procedure was not feminist - would you be fine with that? And what does it mean if it *is* feminist? It might not be an unqualified good decision for that reason alone...
If you don't want to learn the procedure don't learn it. You can still refer patients to other doctors who do perform it.
You should be able to make the choice that feels good to you. Not the choice that makes you a "good feminist" or a "better advocate".
Staunchly pro-choice, but you wouldn't want to actually do it unless your life was at stake...? Not your patient's?
I guess you still have some soul searching to do: why exactly don't I want to do this, since I am politically all for it?
I'm not telling you to become an abortion doctor, but think about it.
I tend to be in favour of learning stuff, but then, one of my key sentences is "well, it won't make me any dumber."
I won't ever be a practicing doctor of anything. My MD is a means to an end. I still have more schooling to go through after I get my MD to go into infectious disease research, so my degree isn't my end all be all. That is why it makes the decision so difficult. If I do learn it, I won't be practicing it anyways, and that makes me feel guilty because I was one of the few who did choose to learn the procedure and then didn't go provide it.
I guess you could say that about anything though. If you're going to be an epidemiologist, why learn to set a broken bone or sew up a wound or take out an appendix? And, I dunno, maybe there should be another path to the job you want, but since you are getting an MD, I think you should learn the things that go along with it. Its a strange political reality that you can avoid learning to perform an abortion, but I doubt they'd let you opt out of any other procedure just because you're going to be an epidemiologist.
What does the learning entail? Would they just have you watch while someone else does an abortion, or would you do one on a practice dummy or animal or cadaver, or would you actually be performing a real abortion on a real live woman? If you can learn how without actually doing one I don't think it should compromise your morals, and then you'll know how if the need arises.
As you're going to become an epidemiologist, I think this is all a moot point. However, I do strongly feel all OB/GYNs should learn it, because at some point odds are you're going to have a patient with an ectopic pregnancy, severe pre-eclampsia or another condition which will endanger the woman's life or health if she goes through with a pregnancy, whether you want to be n abortion provider on a regular basis or not.