Tom Coburn continued his medical practice during his years as a Congressman from Oklahoma. He was a hard worker and very efficient in performing his elected duties but he also wanted to keep some degree of normal contact with his constituents. So, he delivered a few babies. Nice.
Representative Coburn impressed the people of his district and was awarded high marks for his tenure. In fact, he impressed the entire state and easily won election as one of Oklahoma's Senators. In that campaign, by the way, he pledged over and again to keep his medical practice current and continue to give a handful of hours a week to his OB/GYN services. The public liked that promise, as did supporters of "Doc" Coburn all over America.
Now, Senator Dr. Tom Coburn spends 60-70 hours every week in performance of his elected duties. He's doing a fine job. However, he is a maverick at times and his principled, consistent conservatism has irked not only the Democrats, but even some of his Republican colleagues. Therefore, when his continuing to deliver babies raised the hackles of some critics (enough to draw the risk of Senate censure under new and foolish rules), he was denied the forceful defense from Republican leadership he thoroughly deserved.
You can read more about this sad state of the Senate in Kathryn Jean Lopez' column over at National Review Online. But I hope you'll then stand in Senator Coburn's defense by sending along a couple of letters expressing your support of his legal and very laudable position. For e-mail addresses, look right here ---> "Doc" Coburn ... Bill Frist ... and your local representatives too.
