Saturday, July 18, 2009

Talk About Single Issue

President Obama has identified the woman he would like as the next Surgeon General, an office that directs the government's efforts on the entire range of medical issues. The Washington Posts's Cheryl W. Thompson takes this opportunity to say, "But she's Catholic! She'd have conflict about abortion!"

Abortion is only one out of thousands of issues the SG will face, and sure it's a contentious issue in American society and in political marketing--but it's not contentious as a legal issue or in the medical field. We have thirty-six years of legal decisions establishing a woman's right to an abortion, and as I understand it the SG has no input there.

This is a non-issue, except to the point of whether Dr. Regina Benjamin feels she can do the job or not. If legal abortion is a problem for her, then she shouldn't take the job. If she can work in that atmosphere (even if she'd make different decisions for herself in a pregnant patient's position), then she should.

No comments: