Doctor’s perspective: Vote “Yes” on abortion amendment Aug. 2 | Commentary

As a physician, I’ll be voting yes on Aug. 2 for the Value Them Both Amendment.

Here is why:

A patient recently disclosed that she had had an abortion over 25 years ago and I was the first person she had ever told. With tears, she added that not a single day goes by where she has not thought about the abortion and what her son might have grown up to become. She said she lacked support and did not feel like she had a choice, nor did she fully understand the ramifications of her decision; in fact, she regrets her decision every single day. Other patients have revealed the same agonizing decision and the enduring grief that followed. I also know colleagues with similar regret, saying they will never forget the trauma of their abortion and aftermath.

Society denies the impact of abortion on women’s subsequent mental health, but my own clinical experience indicates otherwise. As a physician, informed consent is paramount and this should not exclude abortion. And it is a key reason I, along with almost 250 other doctors, nurses, pharmacists and mental health professionals in Kansas, have become vocal proponents of the “Value Them Both” constitutional amendment. We firmly believe women should be given all available information when making such life-altering decisions like abortion, including long-term effects, alternatives and community resources.

But our state supreme court decided otherwise. In an unprecedented decision in 2019, the court essentially struck down decades of bipartisan-passed, common-sense laws regulating abortion. In doing so, it decreed that virtually any limitation or regulation on abortion would be deemed unconstitutional; overnight, this made Kansas one of the most extreme states in the country with regard to abortion.

This ruling was then used to strike down standard inspection, safety, and sanitation requirements for abortion facilities. Never mind that this law was put into place because a home-grade dishwasher was being used to “sterilize” surgical equipment in a legally operating abortion facility in Kansas City, Kansas. In fact, after years of ignoring reports, state officials finally inspected this facility…and discovered fetal remains in the fridge, and roaches and blood on the furniture!

Kansas has also become an abortion “destination” for women from other states, with the largest increase in chemical and surgical abortion in a quarter century. Not only do we rank among the most extreme in the nation, we are one of few states where our own voters have no voice and our own safety regulations are lacking.

But we have the chance to do better, to once again protect women who live and visit here. On August 2, Kansans will have the opportunity to vote on the “Value Them Both” ballot measure. A “yes” vote allows our legislators to maintain laws that have been in place over decades. It is a vote to protect women.

And Kansas voters have already shown that we want reasonable regulations. Kansans don’t want taxpayer funding of elective abortion, including out-of-state abortions. We don’t want to eliminate laws requiring informed consent and providing pregnancy resource information. We don’t want to surrender parental notification on such an important health decision of our teenage girls. We certainly don’t want abortion facilities held to lower safety standards than those maintained by clinics and outpatient surgical centers. As much as we may hope the abortion industry could regulate itself, it has proved, both in Kansas and across the country, that regulations are needed to safeguard vulnerable women and to enforce general standards of care.

We do want reasonable protections for women and girls, and above all, we want – and deserve – a voice in protecting them.

Why should the health and safety of Kansan women and every regulatory safeguard on abortion be unilaterally swept away by seven people in black robes in Topeka?

As a woman in a white coat, I can tell you the answer – it shouldn’t!

This story was originally published July 11, 2022 at 3:22 PM.