As a Catholic OBGYN, I urge you to vote Yes on Amendment 4 | Opinion

I never thought I would feel compelled to speak to my patients and colleagues about anything remotely political.

But for the first time in the thirty years I have been practicing obstetric gynecology in Miami-Dade, the decisions of politicians in Tallahassee have invaded my medical practice.

One of the advantages of being a physician is that we have a moral duty to treat all patients with the same dedication, regardless of the political, economic, or religious leanings of the patient we are treating. When we graduate and take the Hippocratic Oath, we acknowledge this.

I was raised in Catholic schools all my life, and learned from childhood to value the importance of Catholic teachings about “conscience” as the ability to choose without being forced, and the use of one’s own conscience to guide our moral decisions.

These teachings tell us that each individual has the freedom to choose what to do based not only on faith, but also on moral and intellectual conclusions. In exercising our free will, we are called to follow the guidance of a well-formed conscience.

I am a gynecologist who does not perform elective abortions. I have always had the luxury of being able to refer my patients who need this service to other colleagues.

Unfortunately, however, pregnancy is not a benign or harmless state, and there are many things that can go wrong. During my career, I have encountered, on many occasions, patients who have had the misfortune of having to terminate a pregnancy because of a serious illness, a lethal fetal abnormality, cases of rape and incest, or a complication directly related to the pregnancy.

In the past, my patients always had the right to decide on their care. Today, however, because of an extreme law written by politicians, my patients no longer have that right.

Physicians always carry the saddest cases. We hurt alongside our patients and their families. Our duty is not to impose our moral or religious point of view, but to evaluate medical situations and provide our patients all the options.

The challenge we now face is that abortion bans purposely delay the time under which we can get patients into the operating room and treat them so that the uterus can contract and stop the bleeding. And the longer a patient goes untreated, the greater the risk that hemorrhage or infection will take her life.

Regardless of how each of us personally feels about abortion, we must understand the medical reality. About one in four pregnancies ends in a miscarriage, and to treat the patient with hemorrhage after the miscarriage and prevent more serious infections, the recommended medical treatment is an abortion.

The reality is undeniable: when abortion access is prohibited, more mothers die.

The politicians who wrote Florida’s extreme abortion ban claim, falsely, to have included exceptions, such as to save the life of a patient. However, their imposed legal and administrative obstacles make it nearly impossible for patients to get the care they need in time.

Medically, an infection or hemorrhage isn’t immediately life-threatening, but without treatment, it’s a death sentence. Despite pleading from doctors, politicians refused to clarify how ill a patient has to be in or what specific conditions would allow the doctors to intervene.

In practice, this law is forcing hospitals and doctors to wait until a patient’s health deteriorates to the brink of death in order to intervene without risking extreme prosecution for violating the measure of the law. Often praying that it’s not too late. Nothing could be further from pro-life.

As a physician, as a Catholic and as a mother, I ask that you give doctors back the ability to care for our patients, and give Florida women the ability to decide what’s best for their health and their family.

Please vote Yes on Amendment 4, the lives of women depend on it.

Cecilia Grande is is certified in Obstetrics and Gynecology and has been practicing for 30 years and has a practice in South Miami. Grande is part of the organization Catholics for Choice.

This story was originally published October 22, 2024 at 9:31 AM.