Knife doctors, huh? I’m pretty sure that’s not what they’re called, but what do I know? Anyway, these doctors are being forced to save the lives of women who have been in all sorts of situations, whether they approve of them or not. If the idea of helping someone who may have done something that goes against your personal beliefs makes you feel “complicit”, maybe you should look for a different job. Don’t become a doctor if you can’t handle the heat!

I mean, seriously, can you believe that these physicians want to police the actions of ALL women and ALL doctors? Who do they think they are? And don’t even get me started on the fact that three federal appellate judges actually gave them the go-ahead on this nonsense. I mean, one of the judges didn’t agree, but still! How is this even a thing?

But wait, it gets better. There’s another federal judge in Texas who has a long history of hating on the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Last month, he invalidated many of the preventive health care measures that the ACA requires private insurance policies to cover for free. His argument was that the expert advisory panel that came up with these measures wasn’t constitutionally appointed. I guess that means we should throw the baby out with the bathwater, huh?

But here’s the real kicker. There’s a case called Braidwood Management v. Becerra that was filed in 2020 by a Christian doctor and prominent Republican donor named Steven Hotze. His argument was that he couldn’t allow his insurance plan to cover an H.I.V. prevention drug known as PrEP because it would encourage behavior like “homosexual sodomy, prostitution, and intravenous drug use”. I’m sorry, WHAT?! This guy seriously thinks that covering a drug that can help prevent H.I.V. is going to turn people into prostitutes and drug addicts?

And guess what? Judge O’Connor bought the argument. He said that requiring coverage of the PrEP drugs violated Hotze’s “sincere religious beliefs” and he used the Religious Freedom Restoration Act to support his case. This is just crazy. I can’t believe we’re still having to fight for basic healthcare rights in this day and age. But hey, at least we can all be grateful that we don’t have to deal with these kinds of doctors on a daily basis.

Serious News: nytimes