All of these issues -- abortion, birth control, puberty blockers, SRS, IVF, etc -- come down to one thing: Religious fundamentalists want to deny people autonomy over their own bodies for completely arbitrary reasons that have nothing to do with science and reality, but everything to do with remaking the world in *their* image.

And if you don't believe me when I say this is arbitrary, note that in Iran, gay males are forced to have SRS to be women against their will after a fatwa by the late Ayatollah Khomeini and the current fundamentalist clerics running the show see it as a "solution" to the homosexual "problem."


Medicine should be left up to medical professionals, not religious fundamentalists.

Will all science, medicine, and research be "controlled" by religion? That's the theme of Issac Asimov's first short story "Trends" (1939).



##########


https://www.thedailybeast.com/texas-womans-life-put-at-risk-when-docs-refused-to-treat-ectopic-pregnancy

A 25-year-old Texas woman was put in grave danger when doctors refused to treat her ectopic pregnancy, a harrowing example of the life-and-death stakes in the post-Roe world. Kelsi Norris-De La Cruz was excited to carry her first child, but learned that she likely had an ectopic pregnancy, meaning her pregnancy was inviable and she could be at risk of death if her fallopian tube ruptured. Norris-De La Cruz needed emergency surgery to terminate the ectopic pregnancy, which is protected under Texas’ near-total abortion ban, but she says multiple physicians at Texas Health Arlington Memorial Hospital refused to treat her, telling her the pregnancy could be viable and sending her home to wait. One of them wouldn’t answer when the young woman’s mother directly asked him if this had to do with the state’s restrictive abortion law. Norris-De La Cruz was ultimately treated by another doctor—after the pregnancy had already started to rupture—who was shocked that she had been turned away the first time. A spokesperson for Texas Health said: “Treatment decisions are individualized based on a patient’s clinical condition and we believe the care provided to the patient in this case was appropriate.”


##########

Why Iran is a hub for sex-reassignment surgery
It is not because the regime is liberal

https://www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2019/04/04/why-iran-is-a-hub-for-sex-reassignment-surgery

“I REALISED QUITE early on that I was gay,” says Soly, a 25-year-old chef from Tehran. As a young boy, he would strut about the house in his mother’s high heels and developed crushes on male cartoon characters. But after he was expelled from school for wearing eye-liner, his parents took him to a psychologist who offered a different explanation. “He told me I was transgender and had to change my sex.”

Attitudes towards sexuality can be rigid in Iran. A conservative former president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, once declared that the country didn’t have any gay people. So it seems an unlikely hub for sex-reassignment surgery. But the procedure has been permitted since the mid-1980s, when Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini met a trans woman called Maryam Khatoon Molkara, who had been thrown into a psychiatric institution and forcibly injected with male hormones. Moved by her story, he issued a fatwa allowing the procedure, which a cleric later compared to changing wheat into bread. Today the government even helps with the cost.


##########

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trends_(short_story)

https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2024/02/22/florida-measles-outbreak-ladapo/


Florida surgeon general defies science amid measles outbreak


As a Florida elementary school tries to contain a growing measles outbreak, the state’s top health official is giving advice that runs counter to science and may leave unvaccinated children at risk of contracting one of the most contagious pathogens on Earth, clinicians and public health experts said.

Florida surgeon general Joseph A. Ladapo failed to urge parents to vaccinate their children or keep unvaccinated students home from school as a precaution in a letter to parents at the Fort Lauderdale-area school this week following six confirmed measles cases.

Instead of following what he acknowledged was the “normal” recommendation that parents keep unvaccinated children home for up to 21 days — the incubation period for measles — Ladapo said the state health department “is deferring to parents or guardians to make decisions about school attendance.”

The controversial move by Ladapo follows a pattern of bucking public health norms, particularly when it comes to vaccines. Last month, he called for halting the use of mRNA coronavirus vaccines, in a move decried by the public health community.

Ben Hoffman, president of the American Academy of Pediatrics, said Florida’s guidance flies in the face of long-standing and widely accepted public health guidance for measles, which can result in severe complications, including death.

“It runs counter to everything I have ever heard and everything that I have read,” Hoffman said. “It runs counter to our policy. It runs counter to what the [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] would recommend.”


xxx



Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 02/23/2024 04:30PM by Maude.

Shhh!

what if 'everyone' knows the truth that you've disclosed - published ?!

Science is a book that is open to all.

You only need an open mind to read it.

There is essentially zero chance that an ectopic pregnancy is viable.

Ectopic pregnancy can cause severe pain and various significant maternal complications.

Ectopic pregnancy is treated as a medical emergency.

From Cleveland Clinic:

“An ectopic pregnancy happens when a fertilized egg implants outside of your uterus, most commonly in your fallopian tube. The fallopian tube isn’t made to hold a growing embryo. This condition can lead to bleeding in the birth parent. An ectopic pregnancy is a life-threatening condition that requires emergency treatment.”


From Healthline:

“An untreated ectopic pregnancy requires prompt medical attention. Symptoms include sharp waves of pain in the abdomen, pelvis, shoulder, or neck, and dizziness or fainting.

“From fertilization to delivery, pregnancy requires a number of steps in a woman’s body. One of these steps is when a fertilized egg travels to the uterus to attach itself. In the case of an ectopic pregnancy, the fertilized egg doesn’t attach to the uterus. Instead, it may attach to the fallopian tube, abdominal cavity, or cervix.

“While a pregnancy test may reveal a woman is pregnant, a fertilized egg can’t properly grow anywhere other than the uterus. According to the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP), ectopic pregnancies occur in about 1 out of every 50 pregnancies (20 out of 1,000).

“An untreated ectopic pregnancy can be a medical emergency. Prompt treatment reduces your risk of complications from the ectopic pregnancy, increases your chances for future, healthy pregnancies, and reduces future health complications.

“Ectopic pregnancies aren’t safe for the mother. Also, the embryo won’t be able to develop to term. It’s necessary to remove the embryo as soon as possible for the mother’s immediate health and long-term fertility.”

-----

The last article states that ectopic pregnancies occur in 1 out of every 50 pregnancies. If necessary medical intervention is denied to these women that is a massive number of potential emergency situations and maternal complications, disability and even death.

Medical personnel and non-medical outsiders who seek to prevent women in need from accessing emergency care need to think about that and perhaps even be held accountable for the inevitable and unnecessary extra maternal suffering, physical and emotional, that their ill-advised stance, if imposed, will cause.

Most women in this situation are likely already grieving their loss and trying to cope with their current and future health and well-being. Their loss and grief shouldn't be subject to outside intervention from (often ignorant) third parties that will only add to their physical and emotional distress.


PS: I forgot to mention that a ruptured ectopic pregnancy is excruciatingly painful.

And, again, uncontrolled bleeding can result in maternal death.

So it's kind of a big deal. People who want to protest against medical intervention to prevent complications for the woman involved should educate themselves before rendering uninformed advice or worse, imposing laws that restrict life-saving medical treatment. Caring about "life" should include maternal life.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 02/23/2024 05:41PM by Nightingale.

My mother had an ectopic pregnancy before she had me. This was back in the 1950s. She was at a teaching hospital, and was a regular stop on the rounds for the interns and residents. If she had not had successful surgery for the ectopic pregnancy, I would not be here. You can't save an unviable pregnancy, and not taking action could result in the death of the mother.

summer Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> You can't save an
> unviable pregnancy, and not taking action could
> result in the death of the mother.

Excellent summary, summer.

And it goes without saying (but I'm saying it) I'm glad you're here! In the universe. And at RfM.

Thanks, Nightingale! :) My mom also had miscarriages, and by the time I came along, her medical providers figured out what had been going wrong. A retired RN lived on our street, and gave my mom the needed daily injections so that she could carry me. She was my "Aunt Elsie" and her house was a daily stop for me for milk and cookies on my way home from school. It wasn't until *many* year later that I found out why she took such a great interest in me!

Summer, I am glad you are here. Your Aunt Elsie was a literal angel.