The biggest surprise over a medical career is how often you find yourself surprised. Theories perfect on paper flounder in the real world. Proposed treatments that fit our understanding of disease will unexpectedly fail human trials. Cells, organs, human bodies, and health care systems are complicated, so as a doctor, you train yourself to be humble and wait for data that might not arrive for years.
But we still make predictions, and often find ourselves startled by the outcome. Like many people, I assumed several things would happen after Roe v. Wade was overturned: Abortion rates would fall, infant and maternal deaths would both worsen, and doctors practicing in states where abortion become heavily restricted would flee to other parts of the country.
