This Texas Doctor Deserves A High-Five For The Angry Consent Form He Gave To A Patient Terminating A Pregnancy

There are not a lot of situations more gut-wrenching than being faced with having to terminate a wanted pregnancy. But just in case a woman has not suffered enough already, the state of Texas requires a woman to view an ultrasound and sign consent forms saying she has been given a painfully specific description of the development of her fetus or embryo. The state-mandated shaming is cruel and unnecessary and utterly vile, and apparently at least one Texas doctor agrees, because this is the consent form he gave to one of his patients recently:

(Photo: Imgur) 

This consent form was posted to Reddit’s TwoXChromosomes subreddit by a user who said her doctor gave it to her when she went to terminate a pregnancy for medical reasons last week. The fact that she had to sign a consent form at all is appalling and rage-inducing, and it certainly seems to have induced some rage in her doctor, because you can practically see him seething and cursing as he pounded this letter out.

“It actually made me smile through my tears as I was filling out all of the forms. I hadn’t even met the doctor at that point, but I already liked him!” she said.

Another woman in the thread said she is currently carrying a fetus with the same condition–anencephaly–but because she lives in Oklahoma and the anencephaly was discovered after 20 weeks, she says she is being forced to carry the fetus to term even though she wanted to terminate. It is unconscionable, and I cannot even imagine the pain and loss these women must be feeling. Laws like these serve no purpose but to allow anti-choice lawmakers to punish women and pat themselves on the back for it.

This doctor was right to feel as angry as it appears he does. This law is basically forcing him to torture a woman. He seems like a cool guy for writing his “consent form” this way, and thus letting his patients know that they are not alone and that there are other people who are furious about these unjust, misogynist laws.

Laws like this one and the 20-week abortion ban that has forced some women to carry and deliver non-viable fetuses are cruel and unjust and create even more pain and stress for women who are already experiencing more pain and stress than anybody should ever have to feel. They are awful, and I hope people remember these stories when it comes time to vote in the next election.