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At the heart of being a doctor is the knowledge that my relationship with a patient is sacred.

Patients trust me to provide thoughtful, well-informed and unbiased recommendations. They trust that when providing treatment recommendations I consider nothing but my training, the facts, and their best interests.

That is why I have been dismayed as my Republican colleagues continue to ignore science and push anti-abortion legislation that would put government between doctors and their patients. Family planning decisions are among the most personal that we may make in our lifetime, and they must reside with families in consultation with their faith and their doctor.

Unfortunately, Republicans in the ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ Legislature, and across the country, are prioritizing dangerous bills to limit women’s access to important health care.

First, Republicans fast-tracked a bill making it a felony for doctors to provide abortion services as early as six weeks into pregnancy, before many women are even aware they are pregnant.

And last week, the House passed SB 1457, which threatens caregivers with a felony for performing termination for patients in certain situations. Put plainly, it’s jail time to caregivers for doing their jobs.

I have many friends and colleagues who are obstetricians. I cannot imagine a world in which they need to consider potential felony convictions requiring jail time when providing medical advice and services to patients.

I cannot imagine that a doctor providing treatment alternatives to a family would have to consider whether a lawyer, untrained in medicine, might argue that a condition is not truly life-threatening.

I cannot imagine a woman, scared and uncertain, turning to a doctor for guidance, but not totally trusting their opinion because the advice may be motivativated by self-preservation and avoiding potential felony charges.

Simply put, I cannot imagine a world in which this bill is law.

Let’s be clear, these bills are dangerous. They limit the civil rights of ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ women. They cloud and confound the judgment of ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ doctors, criminalizing key reproductive health care. And they compromise the integrity of the evidence-based practice doctors are trusted to provide.

To make ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ safer, we should be removing governmental intrusion from this medical decision, not allowing government to invade the sanctity of the physician-patient relationship. Health-care decisions belong in the examination room, not the Capitol.

Yet when my Democratic colleagues and I tried to voice our opposition, the majority shut down debate. I suppose silencing dissent is what radical politicians have to do when trying to pass wildly unpopular legislation.

As ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ns face cascading crises — the COVID pandemic, the need to rebuild our economy, a gun violence epidemic, climate change and more — our communities deserve robust discussion resulting in bipartisan legislation based in facts, evidence and reality, and designed to solve problems.

Unfortunately, this Legislature has continued to advance partisan and regressive bills that ignore science, make our communities less safe, and make it harder for ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ns to exercise their constitutionally protected right to vote.

And now, we must contend with bills that threaten women’s civil rights and force doctors to treat patients under the expanded threat of jail time.

Before the Senate votes on SB 1457, let’s not allow ourselves to be silenced. Let’s make sure that the Legislature and the governor know the overwhelming majority of ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ns will not allow government to stand between a woman, her doctor, and her health-care decisions.