Here’s a letter to the people of Arkansas from more than 600 OBGYNs, pediatricians, genetic specialists, midwives and ICU nurses.
These signatories are “united by a belief that the near-total abortion ban currently in effect in Arkansas prevents them from offering the standard of care medicine they swore an oath to provide, which puts their patients at risk.”
These medical experts, not state lawmakers, know best how to care for patients, their letter says.
Over the last two years under the ban, we’ve been prevented from providing up-to-date standard of care medicine to our patients and, in some cases, forced to watch as they and their families suffer despite the availability of better treatment options. When we entered into this profession, we knew suffering would be inevitable — we signed up for it. But we didn’t sign up to have our professional expertise discounted by a government that denies our ability to relieve that suffering.
Arkansans for Limited Government, the group working to collect the more than 90,000 signatures needed by July 5 to put the Arkansas Abortion Amendment on the November ballot, shared the letter Friday. You can read it in full here.
Three OBGYNs who are members of Arkansas’s Healthcare Alliance for Reproductive Care shared why they’re asking Arkansans to sign.
“Hundreds of health care workers from across the state have joined together to defend access to pregnancy care, including terminations, when appropriate, because our patients — the girls and women of Arkansas — deserve the right to have their healthcare available legally, locally, safely, ” Dr. Amy Galdamez said.
“I am speaking out in support of this amendment, which seeks to restore access to comprehensive pregnancy care in Arkansas, because pregnant patients deserve the same respect, dignity, privacy, and access to healthcare afforded to all other patients regardless of which politicians are in power,” Dr. Dina Epstein said.
“I take enormous pride in empowering women and am humbled by the respect they show me simply by involving me in their private care. I feel that I am respecting them, in return, by signing this letter and making clear that when we’re in my office together, medical decisions belong to us, not the legislature,” Dr. Chad B. Taylor said.
Health care providers who haven’t signed the letter of support but want to can do so here.