Look, this is the EMERGENCY department. My job as your provider as is the job of other EM doctors/PAs/NPs is to rule out shit that will kill you. And if something is killing you, stop it and stabilize you. Not to somehow in 5 hours figure out exactly what is wrong with you when your primary care doctor has not figured out what is wrong with you even though you’ve had these symptoms for months.

So for future reference dear patient… to recap the emergency department goes like this: 

If the answer is no then: 

Eight Ways to Remember Anything by Alex Lickerman M.D.

For sharing:

1. Go for a walk around the block – and even longer if you have the time.

2. Make faces in a mirror to reduce the muscle tension (and the chances are it will make you laugh as well).

3. Stretch – and loosen the muscles in the shoulders, neck and jaw

4. Make a thankfulness list.

5. Find a place to withdraw from everyone. Five minutes on your own can really make a world of difference!

6. Turn off your phone and any message notifications.

7. Switch off the inner critic in your head.

8. Look for humour in the situation.

9. Have a cup of herbal tea.

Y'all, it’s only Day 1, and things are looking GRAVE AF. Today Trump re-instated a law that will kill thousands of women – and I am not exaggerating here. He did this 2 DAYS after the women’s march, surrounded by a group of smirking old dudes. Lovely. The policy is called the “Global Gag Rule”.

Here’s what you need to know:

The Global Gag Rule bans health organizations around the world from receiving US funding if they so much as *mention* abortion. The organizations are also banned from providing abortion services – even though other funding sources, like donations, are used to pay for them. (The Helms Amendment bans the use of US funds for abortion.)  The GGR is not a budget cut, it is a special stipulation for funding targeting reproductive health organizations specifically.

As you might imagine, this policy puts international health centers in a very difficult position. They either lose funding for things like STI screenings and birth control, or they leave patients seeking an abortion to do it on their own.

We saw the devastating impact of this policy when President Bush signed it into effect in 2001. Take Ethiopia, where unsafe abortion is the second-leading cause of death (after HIV/AIDS). Organizations there decided they could not turn women away, and thusly experienced a massive birth control supply crisis as punishment. 16 other countries also saw US donations of contraceptives and condoms abruptly cut off.

I know it’s not their thing, but the GOP desperately needs to put on their thinking caps here. What happens when you cut off birth control access? Oh yes! More people get pregnant! And what happens when you cut off safe access to abortion services? Oh, right. People die. Every year 50,000 women die from a lack of access to safe abortion. The last time the GGR went into effect, the abortion rate INCREASED. There are literally 90 katrillion studies showing that banning abortion *does not stop abortion from happening*, it just means they happen in dangerous conditions. That’s a fact. And, at least to this chick, facts still matter.

Then there are the effects that GGR has on HIV/AIDS prevention efforts. In some of the communities affected by the rule, HIV infects as many as 1 in 4 people.

Overall, this is a law that has well documented effects of death and destruction. On what fking planet is this policy “pro life”? I’m pissed, naturally. It’s unbelievable (well, not really) that our government would put women around the world in this much danger FOR LITERALLY NO REASON. Seriously – WTF?? I will not stand for it, and I hope you’ll join me in sending a vocal NOPE to our leaders.

This week, Senator Gillibrand and Senator Shaheen are introducing bi-partisan legislation to permanently REPEAL the Global Gag Rule. They are calling it “HER Act”. It’s unclear to me what is possible given that we have a 1-party government now, but given that lives are on the line, I am going to do what I can to fight back at every turn. 

For sharing:

For sharing: