Christian pediatrician refuses to accept infant as patient because parents are lesbians.

Krista and Jami Contreras, and their baby.

Courtesy of HuffPo: 

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 did offer the couple his services so apparently there are still some doctors who understand what the Hippocratic Oath is all about.

Doctor Roi, by the way, also offered a rather lame explanation for her behavior.

Apparently it was God's fault: 

"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."

So to be clear the doctor prayed about it, received some sort of clarity, and then refused to take this infant on as a patient.

Sounds like she believes God told her to reject this child to me.

Wow, and here I thought that the Christian god was all about love and acceptance. 

Sign seen in pediatrician's office.

This is becoming the new norm.

And this is not the only place that anti-vaxxers are unwelcome, they are also being asked to stay the hell away from the happiest place on earth:

It may be the happiest place on Earth, but California health officials are warning people to stay away from Disneyland unless they're vaccinated.

I myself am somebody who has avoided the flu vaccination for the last twelve years, relying on my own good health and strong natural resistance to see me through the season. And so far so good.

However as somebody who caught both measles and chicken pox as a kid I made sure my daughter got all of her shots and booster shots right on time. Because I love her.

As Americans we are famous for our independent spirit, but when our personal choices put others at terrible risk we have an obligation to put our stubbornness on hold for the good of everybody.

Simply put there is simply NO real scientifically proven connection between vaccinations and autism, despite what disgraced British doctor named Andrew Wakefield and Jenny McCarthy might have you believe.

We put chlorine in our pool water to fight bacteria, pasteurize our milk, and vaccinate our children. And we have never been healthier or safer.

And those are the facts.

Increase in number of children injured by gunshot wounds directly tied to increased number of guns in American homes.

Courtesy of the American Academy of Pediatrics:  

There are approximately 7,500 child hospitalizations and 500 in-hospital deaths each year due to injuries sustained from guns. In an abstract presented Oct. 27 at the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) National Conference and Exhibition in Orlando, researchers also identified a link between the percentage of homes with guns and the prevalence of child gunshot injuries. 

In “United States Gunshot Violence—Disturbing Trends,” researchers reviewed statistics from the Kids’ Inpatient Database (KID) from 1997, 2000, 2003, 2006 and 2009 (for a total of 36 million pediatric hospital admissions), and estimated state household gun ownership using the most recent Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System data (2004). 

The study found that approximately 7,500 children are admitted to the hospital for the treatment of injuries sustained from guns each year, and more than 500 children die during hospital admission from these injuries. Between 1997 and 2009, hospitalizations from gunshot wounds increased from 4,270 to 7,730, and in-hospital deaths from 317 to 503. 

The study also found a significant association between the percentage of gunshot wounds occurring in the home and the percentage of households containing any firearms, loaded firearms and unlocked loaded firearms. 

“Handguns account for the majority of childhood gunshot wounds and this number appears to be increasing over the last decade,” said lead study author Arin L. Madenci, MD, MPH. “Furthermore, states with higher percentages of household firearm ownership also tended to have higher proportions of childhood gunshot wounds, especially those occurring in the home.” 

Many current gun control efforts focus on limiting the availability of military-style semi-automatic assault rifles. 

“Policies designed to reduce the number of household firearms, especially handguns, may more effectively reduce the number of gunshot injuries in children,” said Dr. Madenci. 

More guns, mean more children injured by guns.

Less guns means less injuries.

Why is that so fucking hard to figure out?

As liberals we should NEVER let this issue fall by the wayside. I know the conventional wisdom is that it is almost impossible to pass ANY gun control legislation but "almost impossible" is not impossible.

And there are some who are still more than willing to tilt at windmills.

Pediatricians organize to take on gun lobby. Update!

Courtesy of MSNBC:  

The American Academy of Pediatrics has begun a renewed push to try to get Congress to pass gun control measures, sending more than 100 pediatricians to Capitol Hill earlier this month. But others who have taken on the issue over the past decade have a warning for them: they can run afoul of the National Rifle Association and other pro-gun groups that are quick to paint anyone who advocates for gun control as a political extremist. 

What the doctors want is an assault weapon ban, mandatory background checks and waiting periods before all firearm purchases, a ban on high-capacity magazines, handgun regulations and requirements for safe firearm storage under federal law. 

“I think we can be honest brokers,” says Dr. Lolita McDavid, medical director for child advocacy and protection at University Hospitals, part of Case Western Reserve University’s school of medicine in Cleveland. 

“We have to have a collectively louder voice,” Dr. Danielle Laraque, who chairs the pediatrics department at Maimonides Infants and Children’s Hospital in Brooklyn, told a meeting of the Pediatric Academic Societies in Washington, D.C. earlier this month. “What we need is a call to action, to really look at how we can change public policy that is not often affected by data.”

“If you think that Congress has sort of been asleep…you are wrong,” said Dr. Daniel Webster of Johns Hopkins University, one of the few academic experts who has continued research on gun violence despite efforts to divert funding. “They have been doing a very good job of weakening the laws to make it easier for gun dealers to have the least amount of responsibility. They have made it harder to sue dealers and made it harder to access data on … which dealers are pumping out guns to criminals. They’ve made it almost impossible to prosecute a gun dealer.” 

Pediatricians are puzzled that the statistics aren’t speaking for themselves. 

“Where there are more guns in the United States, there are more people dying,” Dr. Matthew Miller of the Harvard Injury Control Research Center told the meeting in Washington, D.C.. “There are more women dying, there are more men dying, and there are more children dying. We are talking about a lot of people who are dying when they live in places with a lot of guns and homes with guns.” 

Personally I worry about how much impact this can have, I mean if  listening to those horrific stories from the parents of Sandy Hook did not convince Republicans to act like human beings, it is hard to imagine what would.

However what I like about this is that the pediatricians are coming at this from a different angle using statistics to make their case rather than to try to put a human face on the tragedies that happen to dozens of our fellow Americans everyday.

I guess that only works on people who exhibit human emotion.

Update: It looks like the gun lobbyists are already pushing back against the pediatricians: 

The NRA has sponsored legislation to stop pediatricians from asking parents about guns in the home — something that really puzzles doctors who routinely ask about other safety issues, such as using car seats and wearing helmets while riding bikes.

Can they even do that?

Fuck these guys!