Senator Tom Coburn has delivered babies at the same hospital for years.

When absurd ethics rules made it illegal for him to continue to charge for his services while serving in Congress, Coburn chose not to abandon his patients. he continued to deliver their babies, at no charge, at the same public hospital he had always used.

That public hospital was recently bought by a private firm -- and now Democrats want to claim that it is unethical for him to continue to practice there!

Sen. Tom Coburn’s (R-Okla.) office hit back Monday at new attempts to prevent him from delivering babies for free, arguing the Ethics panel might as well investigate Sen. Patrick Leahy’s (D-Vt.) cameo in “The Dark Knight.”

Coburn has come under new pressure from the Ethics panel for delivering babies at the Muskogee Regional Medical Center, which changed from a public to a private institution in April last year after it was acquired by Capella Healthcare.

Because of potential conflicts of interest, Senate rules prohibit members from receiving compensation for practicing a profession that involves a fiduciary relationship. CoburnÂ’s work as an obstetrician has been a subject of interest for ethics panels in the Senate and the House when he was a representative.

Sources said the fact that Muskogee is now a private hospital has renewed the ethics panelÂ’s interest in CoburnÂ’s work.

Now let's look at the absurdity of this situation.

First, where is the ethical issue if Coburn continued to practice medicine as he has for decades? Do Democrats and "public interest groups" want to argue that special interests are knocking women up to steer business to Coburn's obstetrics practice?

Second, since he is delivering the babies for free, where does the ethical issue arise at all?

Third, even though the hospital is now private, Coburn had no part in that decision and has not changed anything in how he practices medicine since the sale of the hospital. How can anyone rationally argue that he is unethically endorsing the hospital by practicing there?

I'd like to encourage Senator Tom Coburn to continue to practice, and to continue to deliver babies just as he always has. And I challenge the Senate to censure him or expel him -- immediately, prior to the November election.

Let the American people decide -- is a doctor engaging in the charitable practice of delivering babies for free unethical by any ordinary understanding of that concept?

H/T Malkin

UPDATE: Van Helsing at Right Wing News delivers one of the most cutting lines I've seen on this issue.

Too bad Coburn isn't a Democrat. Instead of delivering babies for free, he could abort them, and the Congressional leadership would start naming hospitals after him.

Posted by: Greg at 07:35 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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