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In Bakersfield, California Dr. Gary Merrill, Pediatrician, turned away Tasha Childress and her daughter because of the way they look. Ostensibly sighting the teachings of Christ as justification of his decision.
The doctor said he is just following his beliefs, creating a Christian atmosphere for his patients.
Tasha Childress said it’s discrimination.
She said Dr. Gary Merrill wouldn’t treat her daughter for an ear infection because Tasha, the mother, has tattoos.
The writing is on the wall—literally: “This is a private office. Appearance and behavior standards apply.”
For Dr. Gary Merrill of Christian Medical Services, that means no tattoos, body piercings, and a host of other requirements—all standards Merrill has set based upon his Christian faith.
“She had to go that entire night with her ear infection with no medicine because he has his policy,” Tasha Childress said.
Merrill won’t speak on camera, but said based on his values and beliefs, he has standards that he expects in his office.
The AMA is behind Merill and so am I, sort of…
He does own a private practice, which is a business, and he can refuse anyone he likes. This is the same thing as McDonald’s not serving you if you’re shirtless and shoe-less, or a certain donut shop in Joplin, Missouri that will not serve homosexuals. Refusing service is the business owner’s prerogative, and that’s fine with me.
The part that bothers me about this (and the donut shop; they have scripture on their walls) is doing this stuff in the name of Christianity.
Now, I’ll defend your right to refuse service to whomever you please, but claiming your refusal to help another human is an act of Christianity is silly absolutely insane. Christ refused help to no one. In fact, it was spiritually troubled misanthropes and outcasts that he embraced foremost. Christ even asked forgiveness for his own murderers.
So you can be self-righteous all you’d like. It’s one of the freedoms that makes this country great. But to claim that you’re refusing to help someone because you follow the teachings of Jesus Christ is like saying that you’re going to volunteer at the Jewish community center because you follow the teachings of Hitler. It just can’t be true.
72 days ago
The Doctor should have helped. http://www.youtube.com/user/forhishonorandglory
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193 days ago
How about getting over it and finding another doctor?
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225 days ago
Right, I am going to go to my bible and count up the number of times Jesus refused to heal someone because they did not look holy enough.
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588 days ago
“Refusing service is the business owner’s prerogative, and that’s fine with me.”
So you are saying it is okay to exclude minorities and add more fuel to peoples hatred, just because someone’s religious beliefs say it’s okay? Imagine if they said ‘no blacks’ [for example], because they got robbed by black people, does that make it just?
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598 days ago
I wish Hell really did exist so this doctor could burn in it.
No offense.
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715 days ago
The reasoning behind this doctor’s refusal to give care to the child is postively absurd–and is a black mark against the entire Christian community. I agree with the author when he points out that Jesus never refused to help anyone. In fact, He often sought out the ones that everyone else avoided. While, as a private physician, Dr. Merrill has every right to regulate who he gives care to, he should not claim his religion as a means to refuse to give anyone medical care.
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1071 days ago
i love u trey
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1071 days ago
im mad at trey!! he is sooooooooo mean to me but i love him
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1073 days ago
Some of the comments posted are as rediculous as the point they are trying to prove by putting down the doctor. We live in the 21st Century and not in a 3rd world country. There are doctors and clinics in almost every corner. Some people are makiing it sound as if the child was in a life threatning situation. I’m a mother and if my child is seriously ill I would go to another doctor or to an urgent care center. So if I had to criticize someone it would be the parent of the child for permitting the child to spend a night in pain. I think the anti-Christian attitute is as lame and rediculous as the criticisms posted against the doctor. People get a grip!! The comments posted have absolutely no validity other than to put down someone that stands for his beliefs and values. Maybe the criticisms come from the absence of these beleifs and values in yourselves and this is why you cannot understand. I do understand the doctor and this is why I live in this great country to have the freedom to stand for my beliefs and values.
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1099 days ago
Jesus healed leapers (among others) and I am sure their “appearance” wouldn’t have matched up with what this or some other medical practitioners would consider to be acceptable.
I am saddened with Christians miss out on the call of God — loving the Lord God with all of their heart, soul and mind and loving their neighbor as themselves.
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1101 days ago
Meine Güte, das kann ja keine Sau lesen oder verstehen. Muss man unbedingt jede Sprache sprechen? Das ist Kauderwelsch und kein Deutsch.
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1116 days ago
He can refuse. But you never want to argue with someone who holds the mic.
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1137 days ago
the doctor had the right to refuse to give his services, regardless of his reasons. he is only obliged in cases of emergencies.
giving tatoos being against his religious beliefs is pretty lame. most probably it is not the real reason behind his refusal. let’s just say he did not like his clients. blaming it on tatoos is just one way of saying it.
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1192 days ago
I am a doctor, but I’m not a Christian. I was raised in a very religious home and found the exclusion of other religions–the necessity of telling everyone else that their religion was wrong and trying to convert them to Christianity–impossible to swallow. So I quit.
In my opinion, this physician is trying to make a statement in support of what he sees as the moral viewpoint of the kind of practice he wishes to have for all his patients: free of tattoos, piercings, (and I would suggest but of course have no way of substantiating this) cussing, beating, sexual humor, blah, blah, blah. In short, he wants his Pediatric office to be free of things that might be offensive to children and their parents. However, rather than phrasing that in a way that leaves religion out of the picture, he has chosen to try to frame his argument in a way that “justifies” his version of what is “good clean family fun” by centering it around Christianity. I don’t think it is wrong to try to protect children from seeing things which might be shocking or to continue to maintain the Victorian tradition of childhood as a relatively innocent period. But I do I think that it was in very poor taste to justify his reasons based on his religion.
However, as a physician, I think that it is repugnant and reprehensible to turn away a patient (short of threats to yourself or your family or something like that). I am a surgeon and would not turn away operating on a patient because they had HIV or Hepatitis or some other transmissible disease–I just double glove and warn the other people in the OR, who also take additional precautions. When I see patients in the Trauma Bay who have been in car accidents because they are drunk and/or high, I don’t say, “sorry, I know you are bleeding to death because your leg is hanging on by a thread, but I don’t believe in drunk driving so I am not going to treat you.” I went into medicine to heal people. That means all people. Period.
And as an aside, what are you guys arguing about with the licensing crap? You pay several hundred dollars to each state where you want to have a license; you jump through a lot of hoops and red tape and send all kinds of documentation; then the state sends you a license. Then you repeat the process, or not, every few years, depending on the state. That’s how it works–believe me, there is no “giving” involved.
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1193 days ago
It is beyond me how any “Christian” person could deny medical attention to a child for any reason. As far as tattoos go, more people than you might expect have tattoos. I wonder just how many of this Doctor’s clients, or staff for that matter, have tattoos? I’d be willing to bet a lot of them but he turned this woman and her child away because he could actually see it(them).
My advice for this doctor is, if your going to deny treatment because of tattoos, then you need to strip search everybody that comes in so you don’t leave anybody out.
If he truly denied everybody that had a tattoo, then he’d go out of business.
Just my two cents.
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1193 days ago
No matter if the Dr is right or wrong you might ask yourself if this was your child would you scarifice your pride cover your tatoos and get her helped or go there displaying everything and making a huge fight about it to get on the evening news. Honestly does it appear that the mother cared any more about the child than the Dr and it was her child. It appears she was more interested in her 15 minutes. Sort of like the guy who used his 6yr old to try to get God taken out of the pledge.
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1198 days ago
Actually, this is a trend among doctors and the AMA backs them up. The AMA code of ethics states that doctors are “free to choose whom to serve…” I guess the next thing will be no sick people allowed.
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1271 days ago
As a pastor (with 14 tattoos) I will say this is the kind of stuff that just gives us what we deserve in the public arena. I never did get it where followers of Jesus got the idea that we were to be the moral police for the rest of the world…when he called us to be the very ones to bless the world, not nag them to death.
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1275 days ago
I must admit that from a personal stand point I am outraged at this kind of thing. It it is disgusting to me. Given the change to kick him hard in the shin while wearing pointy toes shoes I would. And then I would shove something in his ear because I do believe in a certain sense of biblical justice.
From a consumer/ business standpoint he was within his rights. He doesn’t work for a state hospital or anything else that is publicly held. He has a private business so he can do with it what he likes.
From a spiritual standpoint I think he is completely abusing the Christian faith. Jesus would have treated the child.
From an ethical standpoint I think the state should pull his medical license for direct violations of the Hippocratic Oath. Especially where it says:
Never to do deliberate harm to anyone for anyone else’s interest.
and
To keep the good of the patient as the highest priority.
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1290 days ago
Godwin’s Law at under 20 replies. Nice work Precious Marshall.
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