Amy Hamm in The National Post a couple of weeks ago:

Is it discrimination when doctors make care decisions that account for a patient’s extreme obesity? In British Columbia, astoundingly, it might be.   

A Canadian woman who identifies as an “unapologetically fat intersectional feminist” won her bid to bring an obstetrician to the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal (BCHRT) for alleged discrimination on the basis of her size and body mass index (BMI), of 46, after the physician referred her to a high-risk birth centre during her pregnancy. 

Sigh. He’s a doctor; he’s an obstetrician. He’s not some random person shouting insults, he’s not a bunch of people bullying her, he’s a doctor whose job it is know what’s a risk and what to do about it.

It’s also true that losing weight is not a simple thing, and for some or many people it just isn’t possible. The body fights back and tweaks the metabolism so that losing weight becomes more and more difficult, which eventually means it’s impossible.

Does it follow that the doctor should not have referred the woman to a high-risk birth centre? It does not. Whether she’s high risk or not is not a political question, it’s a medical one. It’s his job to make that call; it would be malpractice not to.

[T]he BCHRT has expressed an interest in exploring the “social construction of disability” in the forthcoming hearing. The tribunal’s latest ruling states that “disability under human rights legislation, including under the Code, extends beyond biomedical conditions and functional impairments to perceptions and stereotypes,” apparently including stereotypes about being fat.

Blah blah, but that won’t help the woman and/or baby survive the birth.

Glaringly absent from Lindberg’s entire case is any discussion of an infant’s right to a safe delivery guided by evidence-based care. The hospital where Lindberg wanted to give birth is classified as “low risk and without the benefit of specialized staff and equipment,” according to Fraser Health Authority. Obesity during pregnancy is linked to numerous health risks for both the mother and baby, including gestational diabetes — which Lindberg developed and required insulin for — birth defects, preterm birth, stillbirth, and a difficult delivery on account of the infant being oversized. That the human rights tribunal even mentioned, in its latest ruling, that Lindberg’s baby was born “without complication” can be none other than an admission that all parties recognize the risk that was inherent in her birth.

“Born without complication, no thanks to us.”

Lindberg got lucky with a healthy baby. Let’s hope her child does not require future therapy for the trauma of discovering that her mother fought so hard to prioritize “fat activism” over her own safe entry into the world. Because that is what this case ultimately comes down to: a fat activist performing a malicious and attention-grabbing stunt. 

At the expense of her passenger.