Pediatrician Refuses To Care For Baby With Lesbian Mothers In Michigan
Pediatrician Refuses To Care For Baby With Lesbian Mothers In Michigan
A lesbian couple in Michigan says a pediatrician has refused to care for their infant because of their sexual orientation .
Krista and Jami Contreras said Dr. Vesna Roi of Eastlake Pediatrics in Roseville, Michigan, had initially agreed to be the pediatrician to their daughter, Bay. But after "much prayer," Roi had a change of heart.
When the couple brought their 6-day-old baby into the office for a wellness check-up, another doctor told them that Roi would not be seeing them after all, according to the Detroit Free Press.
" I was completely dumbfounded ," Krista, who is the baby's biological mother, told the newspaper. "We just looked at each other and said, 'Did we hear that correctly?'"
The other doctor at the practice offered to care for the baby. The couple told the local Fox station that the second doctor also told them Roi didn't even come into the clinic that day because she didn't want to see them.
" As far as we know Bay doesn't have a sexual orientation yet so I'm not really sure what that matters," Jami told myFOXDetroit.com . "We're not your patient -- she's your patient. And the fact is that your job is to keep babies healthy and you can't keep a baby healthy that has gay parents?"
Roi later sent the couple a handwritten letter , which the Free Press posted online and can be seen below.
"After much prayer following your prenatal, I felt that I would not be able to develop the personal patient doctor relationship that I normally do with my patients," wrote Roi, who has an average of three out of five stars at Healthgrades and four out of five on Vitals based on limited reviews.
Roi apologized for not telling them in person, and said they were welcome in the clinic, but that Bay would have to be seen by the other doctor at the practice.
"Please know that I believe that God gives us free choice and I would never judge anyone based on what they do with that free choice," Roi wrote. "Again, I am sorry for the hurt and angry feelings that were created by this. I hope you can accept my apology."
Roi's decision may seem outrageous, but it's not illegal. The Free Press reports that while 22 states have laws prohibiting doctors from discriminating based on sexual orientation, Michigan is not one of them.
However, the American Medical Association's code of ethics says doctors should not refuse care based on race, gender or sexual orientation . Doctors can refuse specific treatments if they are incompatible with personal, religious or moral beliefs.
Roi has not been a member of the AMA since 2001 , according to her website. She does belong to the American Academy of Pediatrics, which similarly urges members to practice nondiscrimination .
Krista and Jami Contreras, who were married in Vermont in 2012, told both MyFOXDetroit and the Free Press that they were going public to raise awareness and change the laws to protect families with same-sex parents.
"It was embarrassing, it was humiliating and here we are, new parents trying to protect her," Jami told myFOXDetroit. "And we know this happens in the world and we're completely prepared for this to happen other places. But not at our 6-day-old's wellness appointment."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/02/18/pediatrician-refuses-lesbian-mothers_n_6710128.html
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Roi has not been a member of the AMA since 2001 , according to her website. She does belong to the American Academy of Pediatrics, which similarly urges members to practice nondiscrimination .
She is both a bigot and a coward. You got that right!
If she truly felt that way, why did she hide? She knows that what she did was wrong-- on all counts.
Could she not tell they were gay when they went for the pre-well baby visit?
Pediatricians are often arbitrary and sometimes aren't all that compassionate. I once took Matthew to a pediatrician that refused to accept faxes. That's how the pharmacy, (Walgreens), makes requests for refills. That meant that I had to go to the office and pick up a prescription and take it to the pharmacy, rather than letting her call it in. We never went back, and I have utterly no time for the woman. Pfffthp on her.
Let me see if I got this right. Parents are lesbians. Baby is...well a baby. Doctor says that her religious beliefs aren't allowing her to be the babies doctor.
Well, as far as I know the baby has not been ID"ed as either a lesbian or homosexual. So that little problem is out of the way.
Next up, I would like to point out that the good doctor isn't caring for the lesbian parents, just a baby.
Now we get to the religion thing. Not being an expert on the bible and the beliefs that it inspires, I'm sure there is nowhere in there that says, don't take care of a baby, cuz it's parents are, (gasp) lesbians.
Also, doctors have an oath. It would seem that the good doctor needs her head examined.
I certainly would not put my son's health into her care. I wouldn't let her even look at my dogs!!
We never went back, and I have utterly no time for the woman. Pfffthp on her. Exactly!!
Dower, I'm not sure what, Pfffthp on her means, but I bet it's not good.
Bindy and Beaumont would have ''bit her on the ass''....Sorry, but I'm sure that they would.
I blew a raspberry.
This woman pediatrician is like a lot of them-- they make everything convenient for them. They aren't really there to practice medicine, per se, they're there to have $$ and status. The have the idea that their time is 10X more important than my time. At the time, I worked 40 hours/wk, downtown, and it was hard to get to the office to pick up a prescription. I wasn't at all pleased with her.
I never knew that doctors could decide they don't want a patient-- I thought they all treated everyone. I guess I watched too much MASH, when I was young. They treated everyone!
I don't want that type as a lawyer, either. Lack of compassion? Patooey.
Obviously!
Actually, I've been dealing with a fine older gentleman who is helping me with my mother's estate. Not all lawyers are sleazebags and this fellow is a lovely gentleman... I want my attorney to have compassion for me-- tell me the truth, but be nice about it.
Now that I can understand.
This Dr. is a poor excuse for a human being, let alone a Dr. who should take care of anyone, no matter what!!!
They are often are not compassionate because they've gone into medicine for money and status. Sad, but true.....
OH DEFINITELY!! And then peed on her!! WITCH!!
I want my attorney to have compassion for me-- tell me the truth, but be nice about it And you certainly deserve that....
Good for them! There is nothing wrong with not wanting to have children......
What a great human being. This world needs more people like your Uncle!
Actually, I am not sure how it isn't against the law for a doctor to do that. In order to become a doctor everywhere, you must take theHippocratic Oath, which clearly states "Do no harm". It seems that without seeing this child, the doctor broke his oath.
When a criminal comes in bleeding after shooting police, the doctors must do everything they can to save his life, or they can be charged for murder. How can what this doctor did be not be criminal?
That's my question, too!
Hal, I think God told Michelle Bachman to run to show us my deities' sense of humor.
Seriously I tire of hearingChristians spout "I prayed"as justification for their actions. It's become the excuse for horrible behavior and seemingly never questioned by many in Christian circles.
When an action is devoid of love or kindness the whispering voice "they" hear is not from God but their own prideful head and hearts.
This is appalling....
They're trying to cover their butts.
Perhaps they should just tape their mouths
Couldn't agree more, Lynne!
Funny, when I pray and ask for the way to be shown to me, it's never something I really want to do, it's always something I should do. I mean, God never tells me to take a long hot bath. He tells me to get off my tail end and go do something for someone.
Holy crap! I should start to proofread my posts. That is embarrassing!
What ever her reasons they are her reasons and she has a right to them.
Going public is simple retribution for not "conforming" to the political crowd.
I do not agree with the doctors reasoning, but publicly condemning her for her beliefs only justifies a like response.
You guys want to end what you call discrimination? then stop practicing it.
Would you feel the same way if it was your child that was denied a chance to be seen by this Dr., for the same reason?
If a doctor does not want to see my child for whatever reason, I would decide on the spot that this isn't the doctor for me or mine, not an issue for me.
I mean I wouldn't force any doctor to treat anyone they didn't want to, I also wouldn't make a major production out of it either, their loss not mine.
Mickey, practical reality, what does all this angst against the doc get you? A higher stress level? ulcers? if she was the only doctor in a remote town, then I would have a problem. in this case she isn't, there is another qualified doctor standing right there more than willing to treat the child..
What's the issue? it isn't about getting the child treatment now is it? so if your desire to get your child treatment and care is the thing, you decide to use the doc in front of you or go find another. her position? BFD the point was to get care and you have got it if you decide to take it.
Trashing the doc who changed her mind, which she has a right to, is just you taking your pound of flesh over something that doesn't even concern the child.
I fail to see what angers people in this situation, it's like just because they are gay means that the doc MUST deal with them, even if she doesn't want to.
That akin to being gay is a ticket to do or say anything you want and everyone else must like it.
In this case they wanted newborn child care, they got it, so what if the initial intake doctor doesn't want to handle the patient the other one, I suspect a partner in the office, will.
What's the problem? except the gay adults got their feelings hurt and now want to exact something (their political pound of flesh) from the doctor that refused them.
Got a clue, not all doctors are liberal democrats.
Such is life. Get over it and move on. Unless it is all about your pound of flesh and making everyone like you by act of congress.
I don't get it, I really do not give a damn how anyone else lives their life with whomever they choose to live it with. But do gays have the right to force me to like it and accept it?
No, they don't, the same as I do not have the right to force the gays to be anything other than what they want to be.
What ever happened to the christian principal of live and let live? Gays are incapable of that? cause that is what it seems you are saying. Non gays HAVE to be tolerant, but gays do NOT.
And, that is patently unfair.
The problem is that this sort of thing NEVER happens to straight parents, thus making it a clear case of discrimination. Why are you so okay with blatant discrimination? And might I add, the root of this issue is none other than religion, not liberalism.
Oh, it doesn't happen to straight parents? I guess your not a parent. Or that is a pretty whopping assumption there.
But of course it is an assumption. It has to be, to justify the unfairness you wish to impart on others.
Any other "STRAIGHT" parents out here that can call this particularly nasty assumption the crap it is?
You call it blatant discrimination. YES it is discrimination, ON MY PART. When I show the doctor he can piss off cause I don't need him. I am very discriminatory to those that hate me.
I just don't lower myself to the level of a juvenile to express it in public. I do not allow his stupidity to infect me.
Liberals, some of them at least, take all the stupidity they can, they eat it up like breakfast cereal. Gorge themselves on it till they puke the vile shit all over themselves.
Usually in public.
And it's even more disgusting the second time around.
It happens to everyone, but, that doesn't make it OK.
What a great couple! Thanks for letting us know about them!
Ok won't accept the logic of my position, then accept this....
Discrimination is here, it is in all of us, it will NEVER go away. It happens EVERY time we make a choice.
If you accept that humans have the right to choose, we have to accept that others will make choices we don't like for whatever reason.
The difference between my approach and your approach?
I chose not to make a public display of my own prejudice and discriminatory beliefs.
Others do.
Discrimination by rule is judging, prejudice by rule is prejudging the two go hand in hand.
Everyone that decides they do not like Ice Cream is discriminating against Ice Cream. Everyone that criticized someone cause they do not like Ice Cream before they ever met them and got to know them is prejudiced.
Any oath anyone may take is irrelevant to their choices.
WE all discriminate.
Some like to make theirs very public and justify theirs by their own perception of prejudice, right wrong or indifferent.
What gives you the right to judge another.
Well I expected the justified aggressive discriminatory response.
With most Liberals it's automatic today. It demonstrates that their victimization is complete in their own minds.
I mean it's has to be tough when one is convinced of their own inferiority.