Playing Chicken with a Life
On June 24, 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the constitutional right to an abortion with its Dobbs v. Jackson decision, leaving individual states as arbiters for reproductive healthcare. This ruling marked a considerable intersection of science and society as individual states have passed a patchwork of laws regarding medical care and created a society in which Americans can no longer freely navigate between the states. Consider this scenario of road-tripping: You are on a road trip from your home state to another state to visit a friend. About 15 minutes into the trip, you panic slightly because you realized that you had forgotten to pack an essential item. But within moments, the sense of panic quickly evaporates because you realized you could always buy the item once you reached your destination. No big deal, right? Now, consider this scenario and imagine that it’s nearing Thanksgiving, and you are excited to visit your family for the holiday. But this time it is different. You are pregnant and are thrilled because you and your spouse have been trying to conceive your second child.
This pregnancy and travel are now linked, and your plans to see your family have been upended because you are afraid. You are afraid that if you travel to this other state to see your family and something goes awry with the pregnancy while you are there, you may not be able to receive the reproductive care you need. Your life might even be in jeopardy. You had never thought about this before because pregnant people in the United States of America could travel freely between states without worry of not receiving healthcare. If a person has a heart attack or a life-threatening illness, we can rest assured that no matter what state they were in, physicians and healthcare personnel would spring into action and do everything to save the life, by whatever means necessary. The calculus changes if the person requiring life-saving healthcare has a uterus.
While many bemoan the existence of a federal government, the primary purpose of federal government mandates is to ensure the safety of its citizens. Some laws need to be laws of the land, to ensure that no matter where we are, we can enjoy general welfare, including life, safety, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, regardless of chromosome count, body organ differences, or health condition.
Throughout these United States, reproductive healthcare is on the ballot this election. There has been no greater intersection of science and society than on this issue. To clarify the scientific piece, let’s consider reproductive anatomy and physiology, focusing on some organs and their functions, which have been legislated, oftentimes with language that is so ambiguous and contrary to science that the laws make no sense.
A common misperception is that a pregnant person’s uterus is simply an incubator for a developing baby. The “bun in the oven” phrase gives credence to this falsehood. In truth, it is a muscular organ that is well supplied with blood vessels that under specific conditions plays a role in embryonic and fetal development. However, this is an oversimplification, and a lot of behind-the-scenes events happen long before and after pregnancy occur. In a typical undergraduate anatomy & physiology course, several textbook chapters and lectures are devoted to this one topic. And this is just the tip of the learning: Entire courses in graduate and medical schools are taken by future researchers and healthcare professionals. In short, it’s very complicated. The same holds true for every other organ system in the body. That is why we have medical professionals who specialize in treating the human body in health and disease.
Yet, there are laws legislating reproductive health - but only for those people with a uterus. There is not a single reproductive health law that targets people with a penis or testicles. Let’s consider these two organs, which are just as critical to human reproduction as the uterus. Their role is just less obvious and occurs before pregnancy, because it is these two organs and their associated structures and products that cause 100% of all pregnancies.
Testicles (testes) are not just sacs that house sperm. Just like the uterus, the anatomy and physiology is complicated. These organs and their associated structures can produce and store sperm – those necessary cells for pregnancy to occur. Yet, without them, there is no sperm. For example, the epididymis is a convoluted duct within each testicle that can become inflamed with an infection, causing epididymitis. Besides it being a 6-syllable word, this condition can also lead to the life-threatening condition called sepsis (the body’s overwhelming response to infection), which can lead to septicemia (blood infection). Because untreated sepsis or septicemia can quickly lead to organ failure and death, it is treated immediately.
Complicated pregnancies and miscarriages increase the risk of sepsis and subsequent septicemia. In states that ban abortion, pregnant people live in fear of “what if scenarios.” Furthermore, physicians are placed in uncertain situations whenever they encounter a pregnant person who requires preventive treatment for sepsis or septicemia. It’s like playing chicken with a pregnant person’s life. In some states where abortion laws are open to interpretation, physicians have been placed in predicaments in which they know what to do medically, but they fear treating the condition because of legal ramification. This leads to unnecessary trauma at best and death at worst. Both could be avoided.
So, let’s circle back to our interstate travel scenario. Pregnant people are dying needlessly because medical care has been withheld in situations where the physicians were prevented from doing their jobs. Without uniform reproductive healthcare across the entire United States of America, pregnant persons are discriminated against and their free will is held hostage.
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