The Point Blog

“You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows” (Psalm 23:5, ESV).

At the 2023 CMDA National Convention my wife Evelyn and I were honored, blessed and quite humbled to receive the 2023 Educator of the Year Award. This all happened under the watchful eye of Princeton’s Professor Robert George, whom I have admired for years (and no, I did not go full fan boy and embarrass CMDA, but we did talk privately a while). I was given a few minutes to share some thoughts which I am now offering you, my colleagues.

The cultural phenomenon known as “wokeness” is grounded in human pride, and it is expressed through moral absolutism, moral grandstanding and the will to control.

As an OB/Gyn, I would like to understand why the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology (ACOG) came out against the ruling in Texas by Judge Matthew Kaczmarek regarding Mifepristone in Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine vs. FDA. ACOG says it is safe and effective in all their talking points, and it says that it is healthcare. According to Webster’s Dictionary, healthcare is “the maintaining and restoration of health by the treatment and prevention of disease especially by trained and licensed professions.”

We have no real power to change others. We can point them toward truth, we can pray for them and we can show them rational and emotional reasons to change; ultimately, any growth on their part must be motivated by their own desire and decision to change.

In a recent sermon, I learned about a fascinating organization called the Recycled Orchestra of Cateura. A children’s orchestra outside of Asuncion, Paraguay, the Recycled Orchestra plays on garbage.

Until there were ventilators, and until organ transplantation became a therapeutic reality, the designation of death was based solely on cardio-respiratory criteria.

In the final installment of the series, we critique the argument that deviations from normative heterosexuality are a part of God’s design and hence morally neutral.

Ever since the American Medical Association’s (AMA) meetings in both the summer and fall of 2022, I have felt a huge tug on my heart by the Holy Spirit. And that tug is persistently asking me to address the issue of unrestricted abortions as a woman’s right to authority over her body, including the unrestricted right to abortion.

We are all dying. Every day we are alive moves us closer in line to that day of transition from this life to eternity. There is no need to hurry death.

I am one of those parents who didn’t let her daughter (though she begged and begged) read the Harry Potter book series when she was 10…and 11…and 12. Even though her friends were reading them. Even though the whole world seemed crazy about them, and she was an avid reader.

Just today in a text exchange about job hunting, a CMDA friend reminded several of us that God can lead us in a variety of ways. Many times, God calls us, or pulls us, into the roles He has for us. We feel clearly instructed, and we feel certain we are following His leading as we step into a new chapter, be it a job or school or church or a new family decision. As American Christians, we are used to thinking about decision-making this way, I think. We feel that we must not know the right thing to do if we don’t feel pulled to one of the options. We pray for clarity, and we seek advice because we want that sense of calling, of being pulled in the direction God would have us to go.

We have been privileged as American healthcare professionals to practice medicine according to our sincerely held beliefs, at least until the relatively recent past. However, as many of our members know from personal experience, those conscience freedoms are coming under increasing attacks from several quarters. In this post, we want to remind the reader of the conscience protections that exist at the federal level and explore why those protections are currently endangered.

Much is being made of the “moral injury” healthcare professionals suffer, which, rightly so, has been exposed and highlighted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Moral injury consists of an accumulation of a number of things, such as straining to care for the overwhelming number of incredibly sick patients, having to make wrenching decisions on prioritizing use of medical resources, etc. The focus on the subject is to address a practical need, like workforce supply in the face of increasing burnout among healthcare professionals, but it also addresses a personal human desire to ensure the personal well-being of another, which is the healthcare professional in this case.

When I was a child—maybe six, maybe seven—I went through a phase of suspecting the entire world existed as a massive play with one star—me. That is, I was the main actor and the rest of humanity played supporting roles. That is, the universe revolved around me. That is, I was all ego.

This week, our kids’ Christian school published The Statement. They sent it out with The Letter. And they asked for The Signature. And once again, our family began the now-familiar dance of shame, grief, anger, prayer, isolation, indignation and so many other emotions that bubble in the toxic stew Christian organizations often throw onto families like us.

The official journal of the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology (ACOG), Obstetrics and Gynecology, (often referred to as the Green Journal because of its traditional green cover) recently featured an article entitled “The Ghost of Savita Halappanavar Comes to America.” The article refers to a pregnant woman in Ireland named Savita Halappanavar who died in 2012 from an inappropriately managed second trimester miscarriage.

I have a dear Christian friend of whom I have finally had to say, “This is as good as it gets,” and leave him in the Lord’s hands.

It will come as no surprise that the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) recently released a special issue filled with articles and opinions arguing for the absolute necessity of access to legal abortion. One opinion that caught my attention was entitled “Implications of the Dobbs Decision for Medical Education Inadequate Training and Moral Distress.” CMDA recently publicly released a new position statement on moral distress, so I was naturally intrigued. Were the authors of this opinion piece actually going to make the argument that the lack of access to elective abortion, a procedure that has been considered immoral for thousands of years, will cause moral distress among upcoming students and residents? Exactly.

Let me introduce you to Aidah. She worked in our home (our “inside worker”) during the eight months our family lived in Kenya in 2003/2004. Don and I worked at Tenwek Mission Hospital as family physicians, and our three children attended elementary and middle school at nearby Rift Valley Academy. She helped me buy food and cook it, and she kept our house clean. Aidah was our backbone. She was a rock.

Is life starting to feel normal again for you? By normal, I guess I mean pre-2020. Is life starting to feel the way it did before COVID and political intensity stretched us further as a society than we might have thought possible just two and a half years ago?

In this installment, we consider myths concerning marriage, sexual “repression” and the impact of the sexual revolution for women.

As James 4:17 says, “Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin” (NKJV).

I recently had the pleasure of hosting a medical student in my home for a (mediocre) waffle breakfast (my sub-par cooking, not hers). She was a completing a sub-internship locally, and it was a joy to hear how her faith in Christ had inspired her to practice in resource-poor settings. I listened with a grin on my face as she described her heart for the downtrodden and afflicted, the mentors whose compassion inspired her and how she saw the Lord at work daily in her chosen specialty.

“Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will” (Romans 12:2, NIV).

The first time I ever heard of a lobotomy was in the early 1980s. I was a medical student, but I didn’t learn about it in class. Instead, I was in a darkened room with a bunch of other family members, watching a family home movie filmed 30 years earlier. The scene was some kind of a garden party, and in the midst of the lively antics of my parents, their siblings and my great-aunts and great-uncles, there was a late middle-aged woman who just…stood there. Eventually someone took her arm and led her to a chair where she just…sat there. Completely still, no facial expression, no interaction with anyone else.

Coming out of the darkest days of COVID, I entered 2022 feeling bludgeoned by the experience I had just endured, both in medical practice and in society around me. I felt emotionally broke, overwhelmed and lost, to use some of Ms. Morrissette’s words. I was drowning in negative emotions and feeling psychologically depleted. My natural response was to grit my teeth and force myself to keep going. To get through each shift by ignoring my feelings and retreating into my knowledge.

The BBC broke a story July 28 headlined, “NHS to close Tavistock child gender identity clinic.” Following the Cass Interim Review determination that the current model of care “is not a safe or viable long-term option,” Britain’s National Health Service announced that their Gender Identity Development Service (GIDS), the world’s largest pediatric gender clinic, is to close by spring 2023. It is to be replaced with centers in London and North West with increased emphasis on mental healthcare and relevant general practitioner services.  Also noted was that the UK’s 20-fold increase in referrals over the last decade (250 then and 5,000 in 2021) had overwhelmed the capacity of the service.

All battles over human sexuality spanning the last 50 years in the Western world can reasonably be parked under the umbrella of the sexual revolution. Its foundational principles are assumed dogma throughout the educational and entertainment establishment, serve as battle cries for politicians and activists and have infiltrated much of the professing Christian community. However, the sexual revolution has been an unmitigated disaster for individuals and society, and it is built upon a foundation of lies.

In the midst of often baffling and perplexing policies and mandates coming out of our nation’s capital, this post outlines good news for current and future members of CMDA. With conscience freedoms increasingly at risk from government infringement, we want to emphasize a recent victory in court. This victory affords you crucial protections of your conscience freedoms as a healthcare professional allowing you to practice from your sincerely held beliefs.

As a young man, I struggled some, wondering what my true calling in life was. At age 18, after months of prayer, I felt the Lord was calling me to life as a physician. Later, in medical school, the multiple options for work within medicine fascinated and, at times, bewildered me. They say the average undergrad student changes their major five or six times. I don’t know what the number is for medical students, but I know I seriously considered multiple options before I finally settled on neurology as a career choice, and later God also led me into working in palliative medicine, healthcare leadership and medical ethics.

While it is never possible to accurately paint a picture of the future, especially the future of the complex culture of healthcare, what is happening in Canada should alarm every healthcare professional in the United States who desires to practice medicine according to a Judeo-Christian ethic.

On August 4, 2022, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) published its notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) to the Federal Registry to modify Section 1557, the “Nondiscrimination in Health Programs and Activities Clause” of the Affordable Care Act.

During my surgical training, I helped care for an aging professor who bemoaned his declining health. His mind still moved in academic circles, pondering the high points of chemistry and physics, but arthritis had so fused the bones in his neck that he couldn’t nestle into a pillow anymore. Cancer riddled his chest, and squandered nutrients, until his frame wasted to skeletal proportions. The simple routine of enjoying a meal pitched him into coughing, and pneumonia festered from the secretions that pooled in his lungs.

Today I am a pharmacist. Well, not really. I’m still a physician, but this week in the Dominican Republic on a Global Health Outreach (GHO) trip, I am serving as a pharmacist. The incredibly dedicated pharmacist who has served on this team for years is at home with COVID-19, and I am attempting to fill his shoes. And as I look around the pharmacy, I see a beautiful picture. While we don’t quite represent every tribe and tongue, we are a varied group, to be sure. There is a woman here from Georgia who is originally from Colombia, a woman here from Ohio who is originally from Indonesia and a multitude of Dominicans and Americans. When I look outside the pharmacy door at the rest of our 75+ team members, we represent at least 10 U.S. states and at least five countries of origin. We include physicians, dentists, nurses, students, optometrists, teachers, pastors and homeschooling moms. We span ages from 10 to 70. We have people triaging and organizing patients, taking vitals, pulling teeth, prescribing medications, performing ultrasounds, filling prescriptions, dancing, singing, making balloon animals and sharing the gospel. We speak English, Spanish, Indonesian and Tagolog. We are funded by people and churches who paid our way or bought medications, and we are even funded by airlines that waived baggage fees to allow the many bags of equipment to travel here. We are supported in prayer by hundreds of people across at least two countries. As a group, we exemplify the beauty of the body of Christ. 

The June 28, 2022 piece by Rita Rubin in the Medical News & Perspectives section of JAMA, “How Abortion Bans Could Affect Care for Miscarriage and Infertility,” presents a one-sided narrow view of the potential impact of the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling on women’s reproductive care, specifically the management of miscarriages and advanced reproductive technologies.

Sometimes, we need a “right now” word. Sometimes, this is referred to as a “rhema word” or “God’s Word spoken to you.”

Supporters of gender-affirming therapy (GAT)—transition affirmation—are doubling down on claims that regret and detransition are rare. From state-level bills in my home state of California to national policy initiatives from the federal administration, the assertion that transitioning for gender dysphoria is all but regret free is used as a promotional tool for the proposed mandating of GAT essentially on request. However, the sales pitch does not hold up to inspection.

CMDA’s Advocacy Department is focused on serving as your voice to the government, media and public on bioethical and public policy issues. Much of the grassroots advocacy efforts we take on both federal and state levels depend on your individual involvement.

Over the years, countless healthcare professionals have shared touching stories of mentors who encouraged and inspired them at early stages of their training. Such accounts motivate us to “pay it forward” and serve in that role for the next generation.

At the time of this writing, the official U.S. Supreme Court ruling on the possible overturn of Roe v. Wade is still pending. The contents of the leaked Samuel Alito document stating that the right to an abortion is not ensconced in the Constitution is still in draft form.

In a conclusion to a case that has gripped the nation, on May 13, 2022 a judge in Tennessee sentenced former nurse RaDonda Vaught to three years’ probation with a judicial diversion, rather than a maximum sentence of 8 years in prison, for clinically negligent homicide.

Do you remember your high school, college or medical/dental school graduation? Probably a bit, I suppose, but if you’re like me, those days are a bit of a blur. How about the graduation speaker at each of those events? Do you remember what was said?

As a former federal government employee, I have observed firsthand how policies affecting our everyday lives are often crafted and administered by unelected federal bureaucrats. Coupled with presidential executive orders, this gives the executive branch a remarkable amount of power. Within the executive branch exists the regulatory framework, which is overseen by a little-known office under the purview of the White House called the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs. Proposed actions from this office are published in the “Unified Agenda” twice a year in the spring and fall, giving the public a glimpse into what future regulatory action is on the horizon. Most of us are unaware (some may say blissfully so) of the volume of regulatory and deregulatory actions under development and review in more than 60 federal departments, agencies and commissions across the government. To give some perspective, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) currently has more pending actions than any other cabinet level department, which underscores the sheer size and reach of this titan agency with a budget that surpasses the gross national product of several countries!

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that chemical abortions represented 38.6 percent of all U.S. abortions in 2018, an increase of 120 percent from 2009. According to the Associated Press, abortion by pill rose to 54 percent of all abortions in America in 2020. The abortion industry has evidently found its path to circumventing the possible overturning of Roe v. Wade, and that avenue is the mailbox.

Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) continue to rise. However, according to last week’s press release from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), it’s apparently got nothing to do with sex.

Pontius Pilate asked in John 18:38, “What is truth?” (NIV). More than 2,000 years later, we often find ourselves in the same position. It is hard to know what, or whom, to believe. Many of the people we would expect to be reasonably honest and transparent can no longer be trusted. The faith we place in major media outlets, large corporations, government officials and even churches may be at an all-time low.

A recent article by NBC News bemoaned the decreasing number of medical schools and residency programs that engage in abortion training. The author attempts to blame this reduction on the increasing number of states passing legislation restricting access to abortion. What is not acknowledged is the fundamental fact that aside from the state of Texas, where a very unusual law exists prohibiting abortion after the detection of a fetal heartbeat, no other state currently limits abortion in the first or early second trimester of pregnancy. The reason is the present legal landscape dictated by Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey. This raises the question as to the real reason abortion training options are diminishing, since abortion is legal after the detection of a fetal heartbeat in 49 states and the District of Columbia.

“Oh please, no more!” she cried. “You said I could go home, and now you’re saying I can’t. You’re a liar!”

At times it can seem like wickedness is gaining the upper hand. The increasing wickedness is primarily driven by an abounding disregard of God’s Word, a blatant disregard of truth. Those participating in and contributing to the increasing wickedness (wrongdoing) that we are being affected by throughout our society is cloaked in what they depict in their minds as “right-doing.” They believe their actions are advancing compassion, justice and mercy. However, this is faulty thinking. James 3:16-17 tells us such thinking or “wisdom” will create “…disorder and every evil practice. But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere” (ESV).

Blankets and quilts are nice, but for cozy wonderfulness on a chilly winter night, give me a comforter every time. A comforter is an old word, but it refers to a particular piece of bedding. Big and puffy, comforters have soft fabric on both sides of a fluffy interior. In addition to warmth, comforters provide…well…comfort.

I had lunch with some dear friends today—Christian women physicians who have been my friends for almost 20 years. We talked about medicine—the woes of the current healthcare system. And we said we couldn’t imagine how things would continue, given the problems our healthcare system faces. We talked about parenting—the challenges of raising daughters. And we said we couldn’t imagine how kids could process social media and technology in a healthy way. We talked about our churches—the deep divisions between the maskers and non-maskers over the last couple of years. And we said we couldn’t imagine how the wounds could be healed. We talked about politics—the uncompromising partisan viewpoints on both sides of the aisle. And we said we couldn’t imagine how people could learn to work together given the depth of the divide.

Swiftly on the heels of his 2021 study showing sexual orientation change efforts (SOCE) “strongly reduces suicidality” and that restrictions on SOCE may “deprive sexual minorities of an important resource for reducing suicidality, putting them at substantially increased suicide risk,”[1],[2] Sociologist Paul Sullins’ new peer-reviewed analysis revealed, as per its title, an “Absence of Behavioral Harm Following Non-efficacious Sexual Orientation Change Efforts: A Retrospective Study of United States Sexual Minority Adults, 2016–2018.”[3]

No matter where you stand, it should be evident that a large swath of humanity confidently clings to tenets that are demonstrably untrue. Moreover, these beliefs are not borne exclusively of facts, experience and logic but a deadly array of confounding factors. The vast complexity of most subjects, misinformation, disinformation and information overload preclude anyone from total mastery of an issue. The solution is biblical, and it’s called intellectual humility.