So how did Anchorage Daily News reporter Lisa Demer end up speaking with a California doctor and getting her allegedly expert opinion concerning the circumstances surrounding Sarah Palin's pregnancy and birth?
Obviously, I don't know. But it's not like Dr. Laurie Gregg was a local phone call away.
Here is what Dr. Gregg had to say about Palin's decision to fly home from Texas (full circumstances are at the adn.com link and at tonight's previous BizzyBlog post):
Still, a Sacramento, Calif., obstetrician who is active in the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, said when a pregnant woman's water breaks, she should go right to the hospital because of the risk of infection. That's true even if the amniotic fluid simply leaks out, said Dr. Laurie Gregg.
"To us, leaking and broken, we are talking the same thing. We are talking doctor-speak," Gregg said.
Is that "doctor-speak," or Democrat-speak?
Well, I don't know, but it could be the latter, because, "oddly enough," there is a Laurie Gregg who is a known Sacramento Democrat and a Golden State political appointee (bold after title is mine):
08/19/2004 GAAS:354:04 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Governor Schwarzenegger Appoints Nine Members of the Medical Board of California
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger today announced the appointment of Steve Alexander, Cesar Aristeiguieta, Stephen Corday, Shelton Duruisseau, Martin Greenberg, Mary Moran, and Ronald Wender to the Medical Board of California, Division of Medical Quality, and Hedy Chang and Laurie Gregg to the Medical Board of California, Division of Licensing.
“The assurance of safe and reliable medical services is a vital component of California’s quality of life,” said Governor Schwarzenegger. “Each of these highly qualified individuals shares my commitment to public health and will work diligently to provide careful oversight of California’s health care professionals.
..... Laurie Gregg operates a private medical practice in Sacramento. She currently serves as the vice-president of the Northern California Obstetrician and Gynecological Society. She holds a Medical Doctorate from the University of California, Los Angeles, and a Bachelor of Arts from Pomona College. Gregg, 40, is a resident of Sacramento. She is a Democrat.
How convenient.
Given the educational institution and timeline, and her age, at a link that I visited and saved but have decided to remove, there's almost no doubt we're talking about the same Laurie Gregg.
Again, was there no one available in Alaska? Or Washington State? Or Oregon?
I think it's fair to say in the circumstances that a Democrat Dr. Gregg isn't presumptively entitled to the last word on Sarah Palin's maternal judgment.
Why isn't the presumption of prudence in the hands of Palin and her (so happens to be) female doctor?
Cross-posted at BizzyBlog.com.
