The official statement from the hospital refers to pregnant 'people'. That choice of vocabulary tells us all we need to know about the hospital's ideology.
That was my immediate thought, too. Men, born with testes, and penises to deliver sperm, cannot, as a physical matter, get pregnant. Only women, born with ova and ovaries, and wombs, can.
Why? I trust science - "scientists," well, it depends. So many are effectively bought out of fear of reprisals for departing of the previling scientology (as pontificated by the powers that be) of the moment.
I would not want to go to a hospital, or see a doctor, who does not know that WOMEN are the only people who can give birth. What happened to “follow the science” mantra that progressives love to chant?
In Washington State this would be illegal. All healthcare professionals are mandatory reporters of child abuse. I imagine they might be running afoul of reporting laws in Massachusetts as well.
As a mental health counselor i’ve worked with numerous clients who were exposed to drugs and alcohol in utero. It is terrible to see the life long struggle these kids and adults have. There can also be a dark side to it. Many struggle to connect cause and effect if the exposure was bad enough. Well what makes a sociopath? Not being able to connect how your actions harm others is a big step in that direction. I’ve had numerous clients with fetal alcohol syndrome and effects start committing violent crimes and sex crimes before they are teens. The ones that were left with their drug abusing mothers usually have a large dose of childhood trauma dumped onto the brain damage they already have. Assuming thats an accurate description. Harming a child like that should be criminalized if it isn’t already.
Also, add serious impulse control problems on top of struggling to connect cause and effect. That just popped into my mind too.
Then theres the adoptive parents when the kid is taken away. Who usually are blind sided by the behavior problems and spend 18 years very nobly and admirably trying to undo the damage. But its not all sunshine and roses when your kid sets the drapes on fire while you’re sleeping, or when they spit on a cop at random.
This is ironically also a racist policy. You’re leaving black kids to be abused when you wouldn’t with a white one?
Even trying to stay as factual as possible it leaves me a bit angry hearing this.
This is a completely racist policy. They are saying we don't care about the black baby's wellbeing at all because it makes out numbers look bad. Disgusting.
I agree with you, David. Looking at it with best intentions, I would say that the policy-makers didn't actually get to the "root" of the problem they're trying to solve. They said that black mothers get drug-tested more frequently than white mothers (paraphrased). It's generally known that drug use is ubiquitous across race and ethnicity generally. So what's going on here? Are they in an area with low income black neighborhoods and high income white neighborhoods? Is it truly racial bias, and the nurses are just not "catching" the white drug addicts? Could they have made drug testing a mandatory screening test for all mothers to make it "fair"? (I can understand that this could have a negative effect and keep drug addicted mothers from seeking medical care; I'm just trying to point out that there could have been other options.) I'd love to hear your opinion on this as a mental health counselor.
I'm not a medical professional, but this feels like a policy that in the best light could be taken as "well, we don't do drug screening perfectly right now, so to not be biased we're just going to stop it altogether." In the worst light, they are catering to an ideology that directly goes against caring for the most vulnerable in their midst. I am angry, too.
Well, that is the attitude of some school systems: We can’t figure out how to close the achievement gap, so we’ll just stop teaching the smart kids and soon our numbers will look better. We’ll be anti racism heroes and who really cares about the kids?
That makes sense, Kathy. The "best intention" interpretation is everybody gets the same treatment, but it doesn't work out that way... And this approach to education ignores extremely relevant research and initiatives that show that kids who are behind benefit from extra time in the classroom; holding everyone else back does not benefit ANYONE. We could implement policies that could bring people up to their peers instead of bringing their peers "down". The current policies are also pretty insulting if you really think about it. They are basically saying that these students who are behind are just incapable of doing the harder classes... it's really sad
The left’s approach is to punish achievement to minimize failure. The perfect scenario being pan failure, in which nobody succeeds. Then declare equality.
Agree. The policy is neither good nor bad without understanding more. I want to know whether a world with this policy, on net, produces better outcomes (there are multiple), then the present one. If the MG can show their work in an admissible manner, proceed and follow up in a year and tell us the findings.
To change clinical practice for ideological reasons, which is what they seem to have done is problematic.A pilot study could have been started to answer the question before instituting the policy for everyone. Once ideology is driving de idiots, it ceases to be silence altogether. They are too biased to ask the proper questions
Yeah. I agree. Medicine is supposed to be based upon science, not politics or ideology. Gaps in health care should be filled as best as possible, equity aside. Equality is the ethical goal, not equity. They are not truly the same thing even though they sound similar. I think patients should be informed that they will be tested for drugs and fully informed about the consequences of drug use in pregnancy. As someone noted above, only women can give birth or become pregnant. This is the REALITY of our species.
Some idiots have pointed out that behavior and gender norms can vary in animals but we are human and as such, our healthcare should be solely focused on human needs in all health related fields.
that’ll never happen. All progressive “solutions” are declared to be working even when things are markedly worse. The “solution” just needs more time and, of course, funding.
Was thinking the same thing as they are mandatory reporters and will be putting their ability to practice on line. I’m a nurse and that is governed by our state’s nurse practice act. Just bc a hospital has a policy isn’t going to hold up with the nursing boards if you fail to report what you are obligated to.
I saw the same years ago when I too worked in Community Mental Health and did special programs in the schools. A doctor/ social worker at the hospital should be able to counsel the mother and Not arrest her but insist on monitoring by home visits. It would save money and hardship for the kid in the future. And if the mother is a hard drug user then she needs to face legal consequences.
> Brigham and Women’s Hospital (part of the Mass General Brigham system) is undertaking a pilot in which admissions of patients with heart failure to specialty cardiac units is based partly on race.
Jeezum.... we're really headed towards full South Africa, huh? These types of policies do not affect the wealthy at all. The most "privileged" white people leave town. So it basically punishes the poor/working class.
Yes, TheShadowbanned, it hurts poor, and the whole thing spirals down when wealthy leave. The snowball effect. We all know of great areas in our cities that went down the toilet. It happens not to just neighborhoods but to entire cities (Detroit) and countries (South Africa). I can’t help noticing that it is happening much faster than I ever anticipated. Frankly, I thought it would happen after I am gone.
There is no such thing as a "Woman's Hospital" anymore since womanhood is a social construct. It's just a hospital.
Fetal health is irrelevant since all fetus' can be aborted at will. They have no standing whatsoever.
Black people will ALWAYS suffer disproportionately at the hands of progressive policies. If they did not suffer, there would be no victim status. If there is no victim status, there is no reason to maintain these insane notions and policies. Black MUST suffer for social justice to thrive. Blacks will forever be the experimental subjects of the "well-meaning" class... they have become the playthings of social justice warriors...
This will affect people in Boston. Who gives a flying fuck what happens to Yankees?
You bring up an excellent point: who is the medical community to interfere with “her body; her choice” in the case of “substance abuse disorder”?? Why SHOULD medical professionals care more about the wellbeing of the mother and baby in THESE situations?? Maybe we aren’t all so wise at making sound decisions for ourselves? Hmmmmm? And definitely the administration at that medical system is adrift!
Reminds me of a similar argument on a segment of NPR last summer, that routine drug testing is racist and discriminatory. The guest said, and I'm not making this up, that cannabis is perfectly safe, for mother and fetus, in pregnancy and often used and medically approved for hyperemesis gravidum, anxiety and sleep. No mention was made that endogenous cannabinoids play a role in the developing central nervous system and brain, and the use of exogenous cannabinoids --- weed, pens, edibles - can possibly have a negative, irreversible impact on the human being-to-be. The host simply agreed.
I was a doctor at the Brigham and lived within walking distance. If you look on Google Maps you’ll see that the hospital abuts on Huntington. On one side of this broad avenue lies Mission Hill, Roxbury and Jamaica Plain (mostly low income, black and Hispanic). On the other side lies Longwood, Brookline and Coolidge Corner (high income and white). Both are in the hospital’s catchment area and women from both sides come to deliver at the Brigham. You can guess which side has the most drug users, the most teen pregnancies or the highest incidence of fetal alcoholic syndrome. The contrast between these two populations is simply staggering. On the one side we have some of the highest educated people in the world, professors at Harvard, MIT and BU, CEOs, start-up geniuses. On the other side we have the third world. Mass General Brigham is trying to give equal service to both. The problem is that they don’t know how. No one knows how. With this new policy change they think they’re doing something. They’re not. It’s patently obvious they’re not. They’re making it worse. But it makes them feel good. It convinces them they’re promoting more equity. But this problem has no easy solutions. And shots in the dark like this may just make things worse. There is an old maxim in medicine: if you don’t know what to do for the patient, best do nothing. This sounds cruel. It’s actually merciful.
Black babies are more affected by drug use by mothers, so we will not report about drug affected black babies. I am trying to think of something more racist. Maybe someone else here in the comments section can, but I cannot.
How about this: we'll give the presidency of an ivy league university to an unqualified incompetent plaigiarist to show the world we think black women have shit for brains
We are in the end of days. Western civilization is in the death spiral. I keep thinking that there needs to be a civil divorce of the sane and insane in this country, because this is an insane policy. As a resident of Massachusetts, since our moderate Republican governor left office we have been on a spending spree that will bankrupt the state by next year.
The same thing happened under Deval Patrick. Now, with the illegal alien invasion, it will get worse on all fronts: economic, crime, resources, and education. But they don't care as long as flowery words are spoken.
We're all going to hell in a hand basket. As an old timey Ob/Gyn, I never, ever treated a pregnant "person". To a man (whoops), they were ALL female. This anti-racist crap has got to go. We tested people according to each individual's actions, not what skin color they were. Medicine has been invaded and taken over by the idiots of society, similar to other institutes of "higher" learning. Pity!
British Columbia just announced a new policy that health care workers shouldn’t try to stop addicts from using in hospitals and allow them to keep weapons under 4” long.
This follows on a court ruling that it’s against crackhead human rights to say they can’t do fentanyl in playgrounds.
Those scratching their heads over the makes no sense chaos attempting to subsume the American Republic might take a look at the James Lindsay/NEW DISCOURSES report on George Soros.
No because that would have disparate impact, even if both had equal frequency, which they probably wouldn't, because even if the frequency was the same, the impact would not be. Because some birthing people would be more able to handle the implications.
There's clearly no other way that not doing this could have disparate impacts, definitely not.
The official statement from the hospital refers to pregnant 'people'. That choice of vocabulary tells us all we need to know about the hospital's ideology.
That was my immediate thought, too. Men, born with testes, and penises to deliver sperm, cannot, as a physical matter, get pregnant. Only women, born with ova and ovaries, and wombs, can.
Stop following the science
Why? I trust science - "scientists," well, it depends. So many are effectively bought out of fear of reprisals for departing of the previling scientology (as pontificated by the powers that be) of the moment.
Shame on you. Are you a bigot? A hater? Worse? A Republican? You're probably white too! Maybe even Christian?
I am ashamed of my sins - as we all should be of our own.
1) No
2) No
3) Maybe - what's "worse?"
4) No
5) Yes
6) Yes
You pass!
Do I win something? Other than a sanity merit badge?
Well, yeah. Which makes it non-scientific gobbledygook. And terribly inapposite language.
If you can be pregnant, you are not a man, you are a woman.
C'mon, ladies - own it, embrace it, love it!
Pity the child of such a deluded person.
I would not want to go to a hospital, or see a doctor, who does not know that WOMEN are the only people who can give birth. What happened to “follow the science” mantra that progressives love to chant?
Yep.
Well this is horrendous but lets stay factual.
In Washington State this would be illegal. All healthcare professionals are mandatory reporters of child abuse. I imagine they might be running afoul of reporting laws in Massachusetts as well.
As a mental health counselor i’ve worked with numerous clients who were exposed to drugs and alcohol in utero. It is terrible to see the life long struggle these kids and adults have. There can also be a dark side to it. Many struggle to connect cause and effect if the exposure was bad enough. Well what makes a sociopath? Not being able to connect how your actions harm others is a big step in that direction. I’ve had numerous clients with fetal alcohol syndrome and effects start committing violent crimes and sex crimes before they are teens. The ones that were left with their drug abusing mothers usually have a large dose of childhood trauma dumped onto the brain damage they already have. Assuming thats an accurate description. Harming a child like that should be criminalized if it isn’t already.
Also, add serious impulse control problems on top of struggling to connect cause and effect. That just popped into my mind too.
Then theres the adoptive parents when the kid is taken away. Who usually are blind sided by the behavior problems and spend 18 years very nobly and admirably trying to undo the damage. But its not all sunshine and roses when your kid sets the drapes on fire while you’re sleeping, or when they spit on a cop at random.
This is ironically also a racist policy. You’re leaving black kids to be abused when you wouldn’t with a white one?
Even trying to stay as factual as possible it leaves me a bit angry hearing this.
This is a completely racist policy. They are saying we don't care about the black baby's wellbeing at all because it makes out numbers look bad. Disgusting.
I agree with you, David. Looking at it with best intentions, I would say that the policy-makers didn't actually get to the "root" of the problem they're trying to solve. They said that black mothers get drug-tested more frequently than white mothers (paraphrased). It's generally known that drug use is ubiquitous across race and ethnicity generally. So what's going on here? Are they in an area with low income black neighborhoods and high income white neighborhoods? Is it truly racial bias, and the nurses are just not "catching" the white drug addicts? Could they have made drug testing a mandatory screening test for all mothers to make it "fair"? (I can understand that this could have a negative effect and keep drug addicted mothers from seeking medical care; I'm just trying to point out that there could have been other options.) I'd love to hear your opinion on this as a mental health counselor.
I'm not a medical professional, but this feels like a policy that in the best light could be taken as "well, we don't do drug screening perfectly right now, so to not be biased we're just going to stop it altogether." In the worst light, they are catering to an ideology that directly goes against caring for the most vulnerable in their midst. I am angry, too.
Well, that is the attitude of some school systems: We can’t figure out how to close the achievement gap, so we’ll just stop teaching the smart kids and soon our numbers will look better. We’ll be anti racism heroes and who really cares about the kids?
That makes sense, Kathy. The "best intention" interpretation is everybody gets the same treatment, but it doesn't work out that way... And this approach to education ignores extremely relevant research and initiatives that show that kids who are behind benefit from extra time in the classroom; holding everyone else back does not benefit ANYONE. We could implement policies that could bring people up to their peers instead of bringing their peers "down". The current policies are also pretty insulting if you really think about it. They are basically saying that these students who are behind are just incapable of doing the harder classes... it's really sad
The left’s approach is to punish achievement to minimize failure. The perfect scenario being pan failure, in which nobody succeeds. Then declare equality.
You ask great questions and my hope is our author will follow up.
Just trying to make my the Free Press better.
Agree. The policy is neither good nor bad without understanding more. I want to know whether a world with this policy, on net, produces better outcomes (there are multiple), then the present one. If the MG can show their work in an admissible manner, proceed and follow up in a year and tell us the findings.
To change clinical practice for ideological reasons, which is what they seem to have done is problematic.A pilot study could have been started to answer the question before instituting the policy for everyone. Once ideology is driving de idiots, it ceases to be silence altogether. They are too biased to ask the proper questions
Yeah. I agree. Medicine is supposed to be based upon science, not politics or ideology. Gaps in health care should be filled as best as possible, equity aside. Equality is the ethical goal, not equity. They are not truly the same thing even though they sound similar. I think patients should be informed that they will be tested for drugs and fully informed about the consequences of drug use in pregnancy. As someone noted above, only women can give birth or become pregnant. This is the REALITY of our species.
Some idiots have pointed out that behavior and gender norms can vary in animals but we are human and as such, our healthcare should be solely focused on human needs in all health related fields.
Ceases to be science .
that’ll never happen. All progressive “solutions” are declared to be working even when things are markedly worse. The “solution” just needs more time and, of course, funding.
Which just illustrates the lack of efficacy of too many government fixes.
Was thinking the same thing as they are mandatory reporters and will be putting their ability to practice on line. I’m a nurse and that is governed by our state’s nurse practice act. Just bc a hospital has a policy isn’t going to hold up with the nursing boards if you fail to report what you are obligated to.
I saw the same years ago when I too worked in Community Mental Health and did special programs in the schools. A doctor/ social worker at the hospital should be able to counsel the mother and Not arrest her but insist on monitoring by home visits. It would save money and hardship for the kid in the future. And if the mother is a hard drug user then she needs to face legal consequences.
> Brigham and Women’s Hospital (part of the Mass General Brigham system) is undertaking a pilot in which admissions of patients with heart failure to specialty cardiac units is based partly on race.
Jeezum.... we're really headed towards full South Africa, huh? These types of policies do not affect the wealthy at all. The most "privileged" white people leave town. So it basically punishes the poor/working class.
Yes, TheShadowbanned, it hurts poor, and the whole thing spirals down when wealthy leave. The snowball effect. We all know of great areas in our cities that went down the toilet. It happens not to just neighborhoods but to entire cities (Detroit) and countries (South Africa). I can’t help noticing that it is happening much faster than I ever anticipated. Frankly, I thought it would happen after I am gone.
Leave town ? Where do they go?
The suburbs where the upscale whites who dream up these policies live. You don’t imagine they would subject their own kids to this idiocy.
Red states.
Progressives are awesome at putting equity lipstick on the pure racism pig. And minorities keep falling for the lies.
A few fun points:
There is no such thing as a "Woman's Hospital" anymore since womanhood is a social construct. It's just a hospital.
Fetal health is irrelevant since all fetus' can be aborted at will. They have no standing whatsoever.
Black people will ALWAYS suffer disproportionately at the hands of progressive policies. If they did not suffer, there would be no victim status. If there is no victim status, there is no reason to maintain these insane notions and policies. Black MUST suffer for social justice to thrive. Blacks will forever be the experimental subjects of the "well-meaning" class... they have become the playthings of social justice warriors...
This will affect people in Boston. Who gives a flying fuck what happens to Yankees?
You bring up an excellent point: who is the medical community to interfere with “her body; her choice” in the case of “substance abuse disorder”?? Why SHOULD medical professionals care more about the wellbeing of the mother and baby in THESE situations?? Maybe we aren’t all so wise at making sound decisions for ourselves? Hmmmmm? And definitely the administration at that medical system is adrift!
Reminds me of a similar argument on a segment of NPR last summer, that routine drug testing is racist and discriminatory. The guest said, and I'm not making this up, that cannabis is perfectly safe, for mother and fetus, in pregnancy and often used and medically approved for hyperemesis gravidum, anxiety and sleep. No mention was made that endogenous cannabinoids play a role in the developing central nervous system and brain, and the use of exogenous cannabinoids --- weed, pens, edibles - can possibly have a negative, irreversible impact on the human being-to-be. The host simply agreed.
I was a doctor at the Brigham and lived within walking distance. If you look on Google Maps you’ll see that the hospital abuts on Huntington. On one side of this broad avenue lies Mission Hill, Roxbury and Jamaica Plain (mostly low income, black and Hispanic). On the other side lies Longwood, Brookline and Coolidge Corner (high income and white). Both are in the hospital’s catchment area and women from both sides come to deliver at the Brigham. You can guess which side has the most drug users, the most teen pregnancies or the highest incidence of fetal alcoholic syndrome. The contrast between these two populations is simply staggering. On the one side we have some of the highest educated people in the world, professors at Harvard, MIT and BU, CEOs, start-up geniuses. On the other side we have the third world. Mass General Brigham is trying to give equal service to both. The problem is that they don’t know how. No one knows how. With this new policy change they think they’re doing something. They’re not. It’s patently obvious they’re not. They’re making it worse. But it makes them feel good. It convinces them they’re promoting more equity. But this problem has no easy solutions. And shots in the dark like this may just make things worse. There is an old maxim in medicine: if you don’t know what to do for the patient, best do nothing. This sounds cruel. It’s actually merciful.
The same about policies. Don’t change them without evidence.When the decision is ideologically based it is not scientific by definition
Same stupid policy as the "Harm Reduction" policy for drug addicts.
Here -- I fixed it for you. Brigham and PEOPLE'S Hospital
You're welcome.
Black babies are more affected by drug use by mothers, so we will not report about drug affected black babies. I am trying to think of something more racist. Maybe someone else here in the comments section can, but I cannot.
In New York City, child protective services workers are being accused of racism because most of the families they need to investigate are black.
Of course, most of the social workers are black too, so it really doesn't follow, does it.
We are in trouble.
I can think of something MUCH more racist: Vote Democrat.
How about this: we'll give the presidency of an ivy league university to an unqualified incompetent plaigiarist to show the world we think black women have shit for brains
We are in the end of days. Western civilization is in the death spiral. I keep thinking that there needs to be a civil divorce of the sane and insane in this country, because this is an insane policy. As a resident of Massachusetts, since our moderate Republican governor left office we have been on a spending spree that will bankrupt the state by next year.
The same thing happened under Deval Patrick. Now, with the illegal alien invasion, it will get worse on all fronts: economic, crime, resources, and education. But they don't care as long as flowery words are spoken.
Of course Dr. Sarah Wakeman teaches at Harvard. She should change her name to Wokeman. Boston Maskachussetts is the most demoralized city in the country: https://yuribezmenov.substack.com/p/boston-the-departed-the-woke-retarded
Mpls says Hold My Beer
EXCLUSIVE: Emotional residents describe ‘living hell’ of life next to a Mpls. homeless camp
https://alphanews.org/exclusive-emotional-residents-describe-living-hell-of-life-next-to-a-mpls-homeless-camp/
Five neighbors of the homeless encampment sat down with Alpha News to detail the nightmare they've been living for the last four weeks.
Liz Collin
March 25, 2024
Spot on, Yuri.
omg the photo of the fake penises.
We're all going to hell in a hand basket. As an old timey Ob/Gyn, I never, ever treated a pregnant "person". To a man (whoops), they were ALL female. This anti-racist crap has got to go. We tested people according to each individual's actions, not what skin color they were. Medicine has been invaded and taken over by the idiots of society, similar to other institutes of "higher" learning. Pity!
I'm glad I'm retiring soon. The medical profession has gone all to hell.
Patient care takes a back seat to the woke crowd. Utterly disastrous.
The poison of the disease of Woke.
British Columbia just announced a new policy that health care workers shouldn’t try to stop addicts from using in hospitals and allow them to keep weapons under 4” long.
This follows on a court ruling that it’s against crackhead human rights to say they can’t do fentanyl in playgrounds.
Because it stigmatizes them.
Mental retards in power everywhere.
Those scratching their heads over the makes no sense chaos attempting to subsume the American Republic might take a look at the James Lindsay/NEW DISCOURSES report on George Soros.
This policy is clinically criminal.
Drug test every woman giving birth. Refer all who test positive to social services for mother and infant. Equal treatment, problem solved.
No because that would have disparate impact, even if both had equal frequency, which they probably wouldn't, because even if the frequency was the same, the impact would not be. Because some birthing people would be more able to handle the implications.
There's clearly no other way that not doing this could have disparate impacts, definitely not.
New neighborhood sign: we believe in identity politics not science