Optometry’s Recent Legislative Wins Show, Progress Is Earned, Not Granted

Every meaningful advancement in optometry has followed the same pattern. We educate and train for it, prove we can deliver it safely and effectively, patients benefit from it, and at nearly every step, there is resistance. That resistance is not new. In fact, opposition to optometry’s growth has become one of the few constants in our profession. Every time optometry advances clinically, legislatively or professionally, someone insists we have gone too far. Someone warns that patients will be blinded and harmed by doctors of optometry practicing to the full extent of our education and training. Someone argues the profession should stop evolving and accept artificial limitations created decades ago. But the future of eye care cannot be dictated by archaic arguments that do not reflect today’s realities or today’s patient needs.