Does abortion play a role?

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Hi, I am Jen and I'm 30... I am a student nurse looking to go into the maternal/L&D/Midwifery world as a specilty after graduation. Whether that is being a L&D nurse or actually becoming a CNM, i am not 100% yet.

My question to you is... I am against abortion, i do not feel i could perform abortions or even refer women to get them die to my moral standpoint on them. I am 100% for family planning, IVF, and every other aspect of the women health world. Is is possible to be a CNM and have these ideals? or is it a conflict of interest? How would a CNM approach a situation where s/he didn't want to refer an abortion? Would you simply say to the pt that there are other CNM on staff who could refer you??

Ah, of course not. But when a woman comes in who is pregnant, then, yes, that is my role.

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Specializes in Med-Surg and Neuro.
cayenne06 said:
She was applying for a TITLE X funded position. Title X is a federally funded family planning initiative. Contraception management is a fundamental part of this position. She said she was not willing to prescribe hormonal birth control unless there was a "medical reason." And apparently preventing pregnancy is not a valid reason in and of itself.

The pro-life community has spinned this to make it sound like the clinic would not hire her because she refused to provide abortions (which midwives cannot legally do in Florida anyway!!!). They also state that the CNM refuses to prescribe hormonal birth control because it can cause abortion " in some cases." This is just fundamentally untrue. Hormonal birth control has been shown over and over to be almost completely benign to a pregnancy. (It is true that IUDs may sometimes interrupt implantation, but their primary mechanism is preventing fertilization. It is also true that an IUD in situ with a pregnancy causes the risk of miscarriage if removed, or infection if left in place). This CNM did not say she wasn't comfortable assisting in abortions and inserting IUDs. She basically said she wasn't willing to do the majority of the job she wanted to be hired for!

Thanks for the clarification. I vaguely remember hearing about the case, but couldn't recall the specifics.

I often wonder why pro-life people would get into OB. Pregnancy isn't a happy time for everyone, and doesn't always have happy outcomes. If you can't put your own bias aside and let the woman make her own decisions, you don't belong in OB.

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Specializes in Reproductive & Public Health.

I just watched After Tiller on netflix. Anyone interested in abortion care (pro choice or not) would love this documentary.

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I often wonder why pro-life people would get into OB.?

I wonder why someone against euthenasia would get into ICU....

Well, OP, this kinda gives you a glimpse of the issues you'll come up against in midwifery school.

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Specializes in Nurse Leader specializing in Labor & Delivery.
cayenne06 said:
I just watched After Tiller on netflix. Anyone interested in abortion care (pro choice or not) would love this documentary.

I came VERY close to working, last summer, for one of the providers featured in that documentary.

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Specializes in hospice.
SoaringOwl said:

I often wonder why pro-life people would get into OB.

And I frankly wonder why anyone pro-killing would enter health care at all, so I guess we're even.

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Red Kryptonite said:
And I frankly wonder why anyone pro-killing would enter health care at all, so I guess we're even.

Prochoice people aren't "pro-killing" -- we just don't believe in forcing our personal values and beliefs on our clients.

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Specializes in Nurse Leader specializing in Labor & Delivery.
Red Kryptonite said:
And I frankly wonder why anyone pro-killing would enter health care at all, so I guess we're even.

This actually made me laugh. Touche, my friend.

The thing is, many of those of us who are pro-choice disagree with you on what constitutes "life" and "killing".

I think of any being that cannot live outside its host as, possibly a POTENTIAL life, but not "life". So I don't think of it as "killing."

Beyond the age of viability, I think of it as a matter of rights - who has more rights...the woman or the fetus? And for me, the woman's rights will trump the fetus's pretty much every time.

Peace. I truly can see both sides.

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Specializes in hospice.
klone said:

I think of any being that cannot live outside its host as, possibly a POTENTIAL life, but not "life".

It's a being that has human DNA separate from its "host" and it meets the biological definition of life in that it grows and develops, consumes nutrition and excretes waste, and responds to stimuli.

Ideology can't change science....but I appreciate that you're willing to reasonably evaluate the ideas of people who disagree with you.

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Specializes in Nurse Leader specializing in Labor & Delivery.
Red Kryptonite said:
It's a being that has human DNA separate from its "host" and it meets the biological definition of life in that it grows and develops, consumes nutrition and excretes waste, and responds to stimuli.[./QUOTE]

So do bacteria. I don't consider it life, deserving of its own *human* rights, until it can exist outside its host.

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imdeborah said:
I often wonder why pro-life people would get into OB.?

I wonder why someone against euthenasia would get into ICU....

Well, OP, this kinda gives you a glimpse of the issues you'll come up against in midwifery school.

they do it to give themselves a pulpit from which to preach.

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Specializes in hospice.
morte said:
they do it to give themselves a pulpit from which to preach.

Yeah, it couldn't possibly be because of their love and respect for the miracle of life.

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