FW: the OB/GYN intern

[Guest guest]

Dear List.

Greetings. I shared my input regarding "prescribing contraception in residency" with Doctor Dominic Pedulla here in Oklahoma City. He sent me the following which I thought might be helpfull for information and further discussion.

--Natural Family Planning Outreach (New address) 2828 NW 57th Street, Suite 211 Oklahoma City, OK 73112-7070 Director: Rev. McCaffrey, STD Assistant Directors: Rev. Hogan, PhD Rev. Habiger, OSB, PhD nfpoutreach@... nfpoutreach@... www.nfpoutreach.org

-------------- Forwarded Message: -------------- From: pedullad@... To: nfpoutreach@... Subject: the OB/GYN intern Date: Thu, 5 Jul 2007 21:05:05 +0000

Dear Father,

Having read the written responses to your message to the incoming OB/GYN intern, I'm struck by several observations.

First, there seems to be a persistent erroneous notion that to simply refuse to prescribe contraceptives means we are now in violation of the freedom and conscience of the patient. Interestingly this appears to be held even by some well-known for being Catholic and in the "NFP movement". Physicians need to be reminded that their role is to promote the health of the body and person, and not to give the patient whatever she says she wants (right 11 what Pope VI meant by "human advantage"). Often patients depend on physicians to have the wisdom and objectivity to refuse certain requests made at times of duress and suffering, or simply when they're acting in a misguided way. For this reason we don't give purgatives or laxatives to those who intend to induce vomiting in order to control weight. We know that such a practice directly antagonizes the health of the body, and even are willing to refuse an insistent patient if need be. As such physicians why they are so moralistic as to oppose a narcotics addict's wish to get a hit of morphine on demand. Isn't that an instance of forcing one's philosophy on a patient? Don't we all know that addicts for the most part can tolerate these injections, yet don't we refuse to give them on principle?

Second, despite the objections of the physician who said that prescribing contraceptives does not directly lead to more induced abortion, you are 100% correct and all of the medical evidence is completely in agreement with you, and against what he is saying, i.e. to the fact that the abortion increase is an indirect result of a change in the culture that came from contraception. All of the data looking at OCP's and abortion show a positive correlation between OCP use, pregnancy unwantedness, and the choice to abort one's pregnancies. This is a plain scientific and medical fact and his analysis of the relation between contraception and abortion is deeply flawed. He appears to overlook even the simple fact that the relationship between contraception and abortion was always a positive and direct correlation even before the advent of the birth control pill, a thing very well documented in the medical and scientific literature. Moreover, he indica

tes that you're using the connection between contraception and abortion to justify not prescribing contraception. You however are not doing that, but rather merely pointing out some additional correlations that can enlighten the mind. The justification is plainly and simply the fact that prescribing contraceptives directly and deliberately harms health -- i.e. it frustrates the body so that it cannot arrive at its normal and intended function.

Third, how could anyone in his right mind think that handing over a prescription for contraceptives, that prescription having been written by someone else, is anything other than a direct and formal intended cooperation in physician-intended, iatrogenic (physician-caused by practices) induced infertility? The doctor himself is intending to treat the patient in such a way that the reproductive system will be deliberately interfered with and frustrated. This is bad enough, but it appears that such a position really realizes that much more than the mere biological reproductive effects will take place. In addition there will be the deeper psychosocial and spiritual, guilt, shame, etc. which all come from deliberately chosen acts contrary to our nature, which at some basic level should be understood by all physicians. Physicians after all have a role in helping their patients achieve happiness, do they not?

Physicians have no right to abdicate their responsibility to help their patients' objectively choose the best and wisest course. It is ridiculous to suggest otherwise, and equally ridiculous that they owe their colleagues some kind of exchange for not doing the work of writing the prescriptions. What they owe their colleagues is charitable witness, loving understanding, and the forgiving of all the slights and injuries, with patient bearing of all the wrongs that inevitably will take place.

Father we really need a Catholic NFP exchange server so that people who don't understand the natural moral law and the issues of cooperation can benefit from, but not control the exchange of ideas.

What you think?Sincerely yours,DomDominic M. Pedulla MD, FACC, CNFPMC, ABVM, ACPhVaricoseveins1@...Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine, OU Health Sciences CenterMedical Director, The Oklahoma Vein and Endovascular CenterPresident, The Edith Stein Foundation

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