Almost every pregnant woman (with a wanted pregnancy) envisions the perfect Gerber baby from the moment the first pregnancy test comes back positive. Unfortunately, this is not always the reality. Many women find themselves with a problem that cannot result in a healthy child. If they have money or know someone with money, they have options. Many states and the federal government do not provide these women with choices.

The scared, 17 year-old, first-time mom with an anencephalic baby (anencephaly is the absence of the brain) who is covered by public insurance in Texas is often forced to carry this fetus to term due to lack of coverage of abortion care by her insurance. This puts her at risk of operative delivery and the risks of abdominal surgery. In our practice, we’ve seen this happen far too often and cost far more than a simple mid-trimester termination.

The barriers placed to the physician-patient relationship would not be tolerated if it didn’t involve women’s ability to control their lives. In a world where we debate what resources should be devoted to health care, placing unnecessary barriers to providing cost-efficiency seems ridiculous. Devotion to ideology at the expense of reason is unconscionable in today’s environment. Leaders who push for controlling spending at almost any other cost, must be held accountable when they recklessly enact such policies. We must find a balance that will allow physicians to care for ALL their patients, not just those who have resources.