A Confession
Facebook: Philip Inglewood—I’m a general surgeon in a small OK town where we don’t even have an OBGYN and have a slightly crooked eye.
I’m confessing that I waited too long to administer care for a woman needing a DNC.
She miscarried, had trouble clearing the fetus, and was sick but I couldn’t tell if her life was in danger for certain.
She needed a DNC, a very common procedure but now under scrutiny in many anti-abortion states, especially OK.
The medical staff were nervous to assist. They didn’t want to be held legally responsible for helping without clearly knowing whether the mother’s life was at stake, whether her body might fight off the infection.
We waited eighteen+ hours before operating.
Too long. She was septic and her organs were shutting down.
I blame the state for this, but I blame myself, too.
I shouldn’t have been so scared to be held liable.
I should have helped immediately. She did not need to die.
Now, her two other children don’t have a mom.