Following the historic Supreme Court decision two years ago that overturned Roe v. Wade, coalitions of left-wing doctors have begun organizing against pro-life laws in states that have passed such legislation.
According to Axios, doctors have organized for such purposes as advocating for pro-abortion laws to be passed at the state level, and some are even running for office themselves.
In Ohio, a group of liberal doctors successfully lobbied for a ballot measure that would enshrine the “right” to an abortion in the state’s constitution. Another group of doctors in Texas have been involved in legal battles over an exception to the state’s ban on abortions.
Lauren Beene, a pediatrician in Ohio who was part of the effort behind the pro-aborton ballot measure, claimed that she had never been political prior to the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the 2022 case that saw the “right” to abortion overturned at the federal level and returned to the states to decide. Beene claimed, without evidence, that she heard from patients who were concerned about the ability to get an abortion after the state passed a six-week ban.
“We really felt strongly that doctors needed to be at the front of this movement for reproductive rights, because it’s our responsibility to make sure our patients can get the care that they need,” said Beene.
In addition to the political advocacy, at least six self-described doctors are running for seats in the U.S. House of Representatives as Democrats this year. One candidate is Kristin Lyerly, an OB-GYN running in Wisconsin’s 8th congressional district. As the sole Democrat in the race, she is the presumptive nominee for her party; however, the seat, which was vacated by the resignation of Congressman Mike Gallagher (R-Wisc.) earlier this year, is a heavily Republican seat that is expected to stay in Republican hands.
Previous efforts by pro-abortion doctors to run for Congress have been less than successful. In the 2022 midterms, while four left-wing doctors ran as Democrats in U.S. House seats, only one was victorious in November: Congresswoman Yadira Caraveo (D-Colo.), who narrowly won her election to Colorado’s 4th district by less than 1%.
At the same time, political advocacy by doctors has not been limited to just the left. The American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists has seen its membership increase by more than 500 in the last two years.
“Our members have found that confusion and false narratives about induced abortion are prevalent even in their own field, emphasizing the need for life-affirming medical professionals to speak out,” said spokeswoman Myriam Diallo.
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