Gabrielle Russon
One pregnant woman’s membranes ruptured at about 15 weeks — her unborn baby was not going to live.
But because the fetus still had a heartbeat, the woman’s doctor had to consult with the hospital’s legal team to ask permission to treat the mother.
“I’m grateful that she was able to receive care, but she shouldn’t have had to wait and risk infection or be made to feel like she or her doctors were doing something wrong,” Jacksonville emergency physician Dr. Kathleen Dumitru said this week.
Medical doctors are emerging as political advocates in the fierce fight to enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution. Dumitru is one of the 850 Florida physicians publicly endorsing Amendment 4, as several medical doctors shared horror stories about the realities of healthcare for pregnant women under Florida’s new abortion ban.
Floridians Protecting Freedom (FPF), the political committee backing Amendment 4, released the endorsements this week.
Meanwhile, other doctors are lobbying against Amendment 4 alongside Gov. Ron DeSantis this week at press conferences.
“It is very important that our communities know how the doctors feel about the content of this amendment and why we are against it,” Dr. Ana Verdeja-Perez, an obstetrician-gynecologist in Plant City, said Tuesday in Winter Garden. “Don’t fall for the scare tactics. Our present abortion law protects the lives of the vulnerable women.”
Florida bans most abortions at six weeks but the law allows exceptions up to 15 weeks of pregnancy for rape, incest and human trafficking victims if they provide proof of the crimes with a police report, restraining order or medical report. Two physicians can also say in writing that an abortion is necessary to save a pregnant woman’s life, another exemption written into state law.
Abortion rights advocates called the opposition group’s press conferences political theater.
“Some of these doctors don’t even believe that contraception is health care,” said Dr. Samantha Baer, an OB/GYN and abortion provider from Tampa, during Tuesday’s FPF press call.
One of Baer’s patients went to an emergency ER when her water broke early in the pregnancy. The woman was told she had to wait until she was in labor or have an infection to get medical care, Baer said.
“Rather than be able to get care, grieve and physically heal, she had to put her health at risk,” Baer said.
Dr. Chelsea Daniels’ patient was eight weeks pregnant, but the fetus had stopped growing, so the woman was unable to get an abortion immediately. Each day without an abortion put her at risk of infection and bleeding, the Miami family medicine physician and abortion provider said.
“I understand why these four other doctors turned her away,” Daniels said. “They were afraid. The exception criteria are so narrow … so if a doctor gets audited and the state challenges their judgment, they could be fined, lose their license, and sent to jail. This case was medically very clear, but legally murky, and made her doctors afraid.”
Amendment 4 needs at least 60% to pass and is expected to be a tight race in the Nov. 5 election.
The proposed constitutional amendment would limit government interference on abortion before viability — which is considered about 24 weeks — or to save the mother’s life.
12 comments
rbruce
October 23, 2024 at 8:27 am
These doctors are lying. There is no ban on emergency medical care. Abortionists make tons of money on killing babies for no acceptable health reason. When I woman has serious health problems, the hospital makes the money. Approving Amdt 4 will open the flood gates on unlimited abortions at any time at any place by anyone. There is no requirement to be a MD. If Amdt 4 passes, many more innocent babies will be killed than now.
A Day without Men Telling Women About Their Bodies
October 23, 2024 at 9:43 am
Implant them in your womb,most people do not care about having an abortion procedure,but think the option should be there for those that need one
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JustBabs
October 24, 2024 at 8:02 am
How would you like to be bleeding and in pain, knowing that pregnancy is already doomed, yet, you are told you cannot be given any medical treatment. Not because that baby will survive, but because the law says that doctor cannot act until the brink of death and the heartbeat of that doomed fetus, stops? We’re not talking about being a little uncomfortable. It’s a huge trauma, painful, and causes unjustified suffering, and for some women this could go on for weeks and every day could mean death for the women, or loss of reproductive capabilities. Even those simple D&C’s after an incomplete miscarriage, a very common occurrance, are not being treated, immediately. This is what is happening. For real.
rbruce
October 24, 2024 at 9:29 am
I don’t believe that a doctor cannot treat such a case. A specific doctor may not do it for personal reasons. Please cite the law that would prevent medical care in this case. The vast majority of abortions are elective without any serious health reason. Let’s agree to greatly reduce elective abortions. Exceptions are allowed in the law.
W Rose
October 24, 2024 at 11:29 am
What you “believe” doesn’t change the fact that women are being denied necessary healthcare, which is clearly stated in the article. Also, infant mortality has already gone up substantially since Roe was overturned.
Michael K
October 23, 2024 at 9:08 am
I trust scientists and medical health care experts – and women! – more than I trust the current governor on this issue.
Rita Joseph
October 23, 2024 at 4:16 pm
The medical profession needs to eschew radical pro-abortion ideology and return to honest recognition once again that there are two patients in a pregnancy and both are entitled to genuine and benign health care by their doctors. Genuine medicine does no deliberate harm to either patient, the distressed mother or the little daughter or son being protected and nurtured in her womb. To restore recognition of the second patient—the smaller patient, we need to approach both doctors and women to face up to this reality.. We need to expose the deception being carried out and exploited by abortion doctors and the abortion pharmaceutical companies. .
JustBabs
October 24, 2024 at 8:09 am
Your misguided ideology is exactly why women are in this compromised position on receiving care. Keep it up and it will be someone close to you who gets to experience the horror of this ban on all prenancy related emergencies. Karma hears you.
rbruce
October 24, 2024 at 9:33 am
So it’s misguided to recognize a baby is being killed? When is the “thing” growing in the womb considered a “baby” and must be protected? Or is it OK to kill “it” up to the moment of being born?
LexT
October 24, 2024 at 8:03 am
You have one side that sees no problem in terminating a pregnancy up until birth or maybe just after. The other side sees this as murder. Both sides should see this as a tougher moral choice. If a woman is truly “at risk” in her pregnancy then that choice gets very hard and I would say it should be the woman’s choice. But we need to be careful defining “at risk”. “At risk” should mean something not mean that if the woman gets a “doctor’s note” she can have an abortion. There needs to be a standard. So, I’m all for people wanting to clarify the definition of “at risk” to go to the legislature and make your case. It is far better than a tricky constitutional amendment, that is very hard to ever clarify or update.
W Rose
October 24, 2024 at 11:32 am
No one is terminating pregnancy up to birth unless the fetus is already dead or has no chance of living at birth. Terminating a pregnancy after birth is not possible, and it would be infanticide. No one is advocating for that.