State legislators are increasingly dictating the way physicians should practice medicine, according to The Washington Post.
Here are five takeaways:
1. Often, politicians censor what providers can discuss with patients. In Florida, providers are not allowed to discuss gun control with their patients. Physicians who defy this policy may face medical license revocation.
2. Companies operating in states where fracking occurs are allowed to withhold information from providers about the chemicals they use on the ground. States that mandate companies to share this information usually require a physician to first sign a confidentiality agreement with companies.
3. Other politicians force physicians to endorse "junk science." In Kansas and Texas, physicians are required to tell patients that having an abortion will increase their risk of breast cancer. However, this claim has been rejected by the World Health Organization, the American Cancer Society and other major health groups.
4. Arizona and Arkansas mandate physicians tell women that drug-induced abortions may be reversible, yet the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology claims this is not supported by scientific evidence.
5. Politicians also intervene in the provision of care itself by either requiring medically unnecessary procedures or delaying medically appropriate ones. Many states like South Dakota have instituted a mandatory waiting period for abortions.
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