I’ve been asked this question a lot lately, and so I decided it was worthy of a post. Many people, both women and men, tell me they don’t want to see a doctor who advocates for forced birth. And let’s be honest, it’s not fetal life they care about it, it is preventing abortion.
Obviously, for those who can get pregnant seeing a doctor who is an anti-abortion forced birther (AAFB) can lead to disastrous medical care. When I did abortions in Kansas it was not uncommon to receive calls from women in other states who had their prenatal ultrasounds after 20-22 weeks. And the time the anomaly was detected and confirmed it was too late to terminate in her state. I have heard from several women that their doctor specifically said they ordered ultrasounds this late to prevent abortions.
There is another reason to not want to be associated with these doctors — their so-called policy statements, which are propaganda and not research — often become “poof” for politicians eager to curtail reproductive rights. If a doctor’s group says abortion is bad then it must be bad, the absence of research and the use of religion as medicine apparently unimportant.
And finally, the reasons these doctors provide to support their anti-abortion forced birth agenda is anti-science, unethical, and pro proselytizing. What other science do they ignore in the face of religion? Many are against contraception and are pro “traditional marriage,” which is code for being opposed to LGBTQ+ rights.
The problem is most doctors who are anti-abortion forced birth don’t advertise the fact that on their doors. They should be forced to as it is unethical to impose your religion on your patient, but they don’t. Even within Catholic health organizations there are many pro choice OB/GYNs and other doctors who quietly refer patients out, so it can be hard to know.
There are three medical organizations — I struggle to call them professional, I mean one is listed as a hate group — that promote anti abortion forced birth positions. And so if your doctor is a member of one of these three groups they have paid to belong to an organization that spreads lies about abortion, among other things.
American Association of Pro Life OB/GYNs. Their site is filled with all kind of medical lies. What irks me about them is ACOG gives them an air of legitimacy by allowing them to have a booth and spread their lies at the annual medical meeting. Love their terminology (not!) — if you have a uterus and ovulate you are “abortion-vulnerable.” You can check if your doctor is a member here.
American College of Pediatricians, which is designated as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center. They are DEFINITELY NOT the same as the American Academy of Pediatrics, who are on the side of science and ethics! You have to e-mail (click here) to find out if your physician is a member of the American College of Pediatricians. Every professional medical society that is, uh, professional has a registry where you can easily find the members. I mean, that is part of the point. But when you are a medical hate group I guess you run things differently.
The Association of American Physicians and Surgeons. Some of their garbage about abortion can be found here and here. I couldn’t find the link to look to see if your doctor is a member. Maybe their members are publicly shy, but perhaps some enterprising reader can navigate their site, find a directory, and post it in the comments.
You can also ask your doctor if they belong to these groups or check their website for listed affiliations. Checking their Twitter bio or searching tweets for comments about abortion may also yield clues.
Obviously, not everyone who is an anti-abortion forced birther (AAFB) will belong to these groups or be public about their views, however, if they are a member of one of these three physician groups you have a pretty good idea where they stand on abortion and on science and human rights in general. And if these doctors are not affecting your care they may very well be popping up on Fox News to spread lies about abortion or other matters or providing incorrect information to politicians.
So if you are pro-choice, also consider your choice of physician.
Dr. Jen Gunter 
I was surprised to see there weren’t that many doctors from Texas on the American Association of Pro-Life Physicians registry. One of them is the doctor who delivered me in 1993, Ted Fogwell. I was searching to see if there was a different guy on the list who I visited last year for a checkup. Thank you for writing this post.
I was surprised to see there weren’t that many doctors from Texas on the American Association of Pro-Life Physicians registry. One of them is the doctor who delivered me in 1993, Ted Fogwell. I was searching to see if there was a different guy on the list who I saw in the past. Thank you for writing this post so we can do our best to visit pro-choice physicians instead.
I ask any health care provider I see whether they support keeping abortion legal, at my first appointment. I started doing that after I learned that my new, female, lesbian OB-GYN was anti-abortion while my legs were up in teh stirrups. That is no time to find out something that important.
OT because I don’t know where to put this, but my daughter just sent me an article about something way worse than jade eggs – the Jamu stick, for exfoliating the vagina. ARRGGHH!
No doubt it is a good idea. However it may be better for Ellie to further elaborate it in simple words so oedinary
people can understand it. As we all know vagina/pussy is a very sensitive area so any wrong wrong practise
can be harmful for it. Men should not use vaginas for their sexual pleasures but be careful while penetrting their
penises in this sensitive area. Is there anybody to further guide us? Thanks!!
No other solution to curtail unwanted preganancies but promotion of anal sex!
I see no need to limit myself or anyone to anal sex because I am happy to have an occasional abortion should my other precautions fail. There is no need to punish anyone. There is no social problem to address if there is no abandoned child requiring 20 years of care and resources. Abortion means that no one has to be punished for an unwanted pregnancy. Abortion means that people like you don’t have to worry about the sex lives of people like me.
How about we stop trying to punish people for engaging in natural human behavior and instead start teaching people how to behave responsibly instead? (protip: I’m not talking about abstinence here.). How about we make contraception widely and easily available?
I don’t see where punishment has any place in the discussion. In fact, if people weren’t so quick to judge single parents, maybe these dudes wouldn’t feel the need to disappear.
If you are against punishing people for unwanted pregnancies and also points out anti contraceptions easily available
but sometimes it also fail. The best solution is anal sex as there is no possibility of pregancy in it. Would people like
to adopt it like vaginal sex?
“How can I tell?” Um – when I went to the doctor, to find out if I was pregnant – when confirmed, told her, I had never wanted children –
had never had any support, was in an abusive relationship.
She told me, to go away – think about it and come back in a week?
When I went back in a week – but she was on holiday, so I had to see another doctor . She told me I could not have an abortion – then? (They said the pregnancy was 10-11 weeks)
Or after – when I spent the whole pregnancy, wanting to die? Or all the years later, no support, abuse, Total isolation. Then?
When my daughter has been abusive, treated me., like something she has stepped in, then?
I had instant love, but have never, had any friends.
I am disabled – but only need a little support, A couple of friends to spend time with, would probably be enough. I couldn’t talk about it, for 20 years.
You have been mistreated by your doctor(s) and I am sorry this happened to you. Nobody should be left alone and it sounds like you were abandoned by those supposed to support you and take care of you when you needed help.
My heart goes out to you – even if that ist not much help.
I wish you the best.
Dear Jen, You are doing a good job! Appreciated with love and hugs! Shak
Last year I had to undergo a surgical procedure for a small issue with my reproducive tract. There is one clinic near my home that has good opinions – but first I made sure that they finally got rid of that one notorious forced birther (notorious, as in speaking in the media, as well as delaying ultrasounds until it was too late for the woman to have a legal abortion). First of all, I would not endorse someone like this with my choice. And secondly, although it was not abortion, I was really afraid that if he was doing or supervising my procedure, he might decide to opt for something less than optimal for me just to increase my chances for future conception, without consulting me first.
So women are pretty much helpless things at the mercy of men? How about all those who aren’t suffering under the shackles of a repressive religion? Normally the woman is just as much a willing participant as the man.
Awesome, thank you for writing this! As a pro choice OBGYN it is so important for patients to know if their counseling is biased!