Political Quotes

On the recordMarch 11, 2003
we have a difference of opinion. Senator Santorum and others have said, wait a minute, we have doctor statements that say just the opposite. Some doctors and some doctor associations say this procedure is never needed, never necessary. Yet other doctors, such as the ones to whom I have referred, who do this for a living, say it may be the best thing to do. So when you have a difference of medical opinion, the obvious question is, Why would we, as a matter of law, come down on one side of this medical debate? It is not unusual for a patient who is facing a serious medical decision to get a second opinion because sometimes doctors disagree. You have to decide as a patient, or as a parent of a patient, what is the right thing to do. To say we are only going to take one approach, one opinion, and that will be the law of the land is to foreclose medical options. To foreclose options in a case where there may be a medical crisis, a serious complication in the pregnancy, I don't think is a wise course of action.
Said by
Dick Durbin
Democratic · Illinois

Editor's note · Context

Discussing differing medical opinions on a procedure during a Senate debate.

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