Media Center: Press Release

Dr. Edward Perrin provided the following testimony before the Arizona House Health Committee:

My name is Edward Perrin. I am a board-certified Family Physician, having trained here in Phoenix, after receiving my MD from University of California at San Diego, and my undergraduate degree from Harvard University. I am a member of the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Family Physicians, the Arizona Association of Family Physicians, NARAL-Pro Choice Arizona, the American Geriatrics Society, and Physicians for Reproductive Choice and Health, but I come before you today as an independent physician, and equally importantly, as a patient.

I am here to speak in opposition to HB 2541, which would allow a pharmacist or physician to opt out of providing comprehensive medical care to a patient based on personal ideology. The very foundation of the doctor-patient relationship, informed consent, is threatened by this bill. Allow me to pose a question: as a patient seeking care for a medical condition, would you want all available information presented to you, or would you want to be deprived of information due to some self-proclaimed arbitrary moral prejudice? Moreover, when (and if) you discovered that you'd been denied information, would that improve your trust of your physician and the medical establishments? I warrant the answer to both of these questions is "NO." And that is why HB 2541 is dangerous. It proposes a slippery-slope whereby any medical provider may withhold proven medical therapies from a select segment of society based on "moral or religious grounds."

In no way am I expecting professionals to go against their own moral convictions; this is a free society. However, that conflicted professional is obligated to refer that patient to someone who is not conflicted so that that patient can make the best medical decision. This bill does not permit that. To restrict information for other-than-medical reasons opens a true can of worms, and frankly is un-American.

I urge you to reject HB 2541 because it does not guarantee the essential freedoms that I, both as a doctor, and as a patient, need to make healthy decisions. That is sound medical practice, and the residents of Arizona deserve as much.

Thank you for your attention and consideration.

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