Thousands of Medical Professionals Urge Supreme Court To Uphold Roe: ‘Provide Patients With the Treatment They Need’

Phoebe Kolbert

Ms. Magazine

Originally posted 21 JUN 22

Any day now, the Supreme Court will issue its decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which many predict will overturn or severely gut Roe v. Wade. Since the start of the Dobbs v. Jackson hearings in December, medical professionals have warned of the drastic health impacts brought on by abortion bans. Now, over 2,500 healthcare professionals from all 50 states have signed a letter urging the Supreme Court to scrap their leaked Dobbs draft opinion and uphold Roe.  

Within 30 days of a decision to overturn Roe, at least 26 states will ban abortion. Clinics in remaining pro-abortion states are preparing for increased violence from anti-abortion extremists and an influx of out-of-state patients. The number of legal abortions performed nationwide is projected to fall by about 13 percent. Many abortion clinics in states with bans will be forced to close their doors, if they haven’t already. The loss of these clinics also comes with the loss of the other essential reproductive healthcare they provide, including STI screenings and treatment, birth control and cervical cancer screenings.

The letter, titled “Medical Professionals Urge Supreme Court to Uphold Roe v. Wade, Protect Abortion Access,” argues that decisions around pregnancy and abortion should be made by patients and their doctors, not the courts.

The info from Ms. Magazine is here.

Here is how the letter begins:

Medical Professionals Urge Supreme Court to Uphold Roe v. Wade, Protect Abortion Access

As physicians and health care professionals, we are gravely concerned that the U.S. Supreme Court appears prepared to end the constitutional right to an abortion. We urge the Supreme Court to to scrap their draft opinion, uphold the constitutional right to an abortion, and ensure that abortions remain legal nationwide, as allowed for in Roe v. Wade. In this moment of crisis, we want to make crystal clear the consequences to our patients’ health if they can no longer access abortions.

Abortions are safe, common and a critical part of health care and reproductive medicine. Medical professionals and medical associations agree, including the American Medical Association, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the American Academy of Family Physicians, the American College of Nurse Midwives and many others.

Prohibiting access to safe and legal abortion has devastating implications for health care. Striking down Roe v. Wade would affect not just abortion access, but also maternal care as well as fertility treatments. Pregnancy changes a person’s physiology. These changes can potentially worsen existing diseases and medical conditions.

As physicians and medical professionals, we see the real-life consequences when an individual does not get the care that they know they need, including abortions. The woman who has suffered the violation and trauma of rape would be forced to carry a pregnancy.

Denying access to abortion from people who want one can adversely affect their health, safety and economic well-being, including delayed separation from a violent partner and increased likelihood of falling into poverty by four times. These outcomes can also have drastic impacts on their health.

The entire letter is here.

Bad science puts innocent people in jail — and keeps them there

Radley Balko and Tucker Carrington
The Washington Post
Originally posted March 21, 2018

Here is an excerpt:

At the trial level, juries hear far too much dubious science, whether it’s an unproven field like bite mark matching or blood splatter analysis, exaggerated claims in a field like hair fiber analysis, or analysts testifying outside their area of expertise.  It’s difficult to say how many convictions have involved faulty or suspect forensics, but the FBI estimated in 2015 that its hair fiber analysts had testified in about 3,000 cases — and that’s merely one subspecialty of forensics, and only at the federal level.    Extrapolating from the database of DNA exonerations, the Innocence Project estimates that bad forensics contributes to about 45 percent of wrongful convictions.

But flawed evidence presented at trial is only part of the problem.  Even once a field of forensics or a particular expert has been discredited, the courts have made it extremely difficult for those convicted by bad science to get a new trial.

The Supreme Court makes judges responsible for determining what is good science.  They already decide what evidence is allowed at trial, so asking them to do the same for expert testimony may seem intuitive.  But judges are trained to do legal analyses, not scientific ones.  They generally deal with challenges to expert testimony by looking at what other judges have said.  If a previous court has allowed a field of forensic evidence, subsequent courts will, too.

The article is here.

Note: These issues also apply to psychologists in the courtroom.

Trump's Ethics Plan Is Even Worse Than You Thought

Timothy L. O'Brien
Bloomberg News
Originally posted February 6, 2017

Here is an excerpt:

The documents note that President Trump is to receive “exclusive benefit” from any assets in the trust. In other words, he still could see profits from the Trump Organization flow directly into his wallet and he gets to keep those for himself. While Donald Trump Jr. and Weisselberg have legal authority over the assets in the trust, the president can revoke their authority at any time.

How much money might course through the Trump Organization and find its way to the president may never be discernable because Trump has resisted releasing his tax returns ever since he began his White House bid. Keeping those returns buried is also out of step with presidential tradition. While Trump’s spokeswoman, Kellyanne Conway, has tried to minimize the significance of that lapse, Trump’s refusal to do so continues to concern voters.

Trump’s tax returns are significant -- they would offer the public a necessary window onto his business dealings, his philanthropic efforts, his overseas operations and the financial forces that will come to bear upon him in the White House. Yet Trump has latched on to a number of slender reasons for avoiding releasing them.

The article is here.