So, who are these people who are actually performing the abortions?

Well, first of all, they are real doctors.  They went to medical school, they did their residency programs at a hospital, they can write prescriptions.  I feel compelled to say this because in my interactions with abortion patients over the years, it was not unusual for someone to ask if the doctor they were going to see was a “real doctor.”  I’m not sure where this concern originally came from, but it’s out there.  So, I’m happy to set the record straight.

Most of the doctors at the clinics are Ob-Gyns, but I would guess that the majority of them have dropped the Ob portion of their practice.  Some dropped it just because Ob requires a lot of time, and unscheduled time at that.  But I will also say right here that some of those doctors dropped the Ob portion because they felt a little conflicted, going back and forth from aborting a potential child to helping a woman bring a child into the world.

 A small portion of the doctors are family practitioners.  In fact, probably the most famous abortion doctor in the world, the late George Tiller, was a family practitioner. 

Most of the doctors are men and many of them are getting up there in age.  Some of these doctors, in fact, were around when abortion was illegal and that inspired them to get into this field when abortion became legal.  Now, a number of those doctors are in their 70’s and they are looking for replacements.  I will write about that effort in another blog. 

There are more women doctors getting into the field, but they are still a minority.  Interestingly, a number of abortion patients say they prefer a male physician. 

Not every doctor does abortions up to the legal limit.  Every doctor has a limit on how far they will perform an abortion.  After all, it’s no secret that the fetus continues to develop in the womb and there are some doctors who only feel comfortable performing abortions before the fetus really starts to form into a “baby.”  In fact, the vast majority of doctors only perform abortions to the end of the first trimester or thereabouts.  Less and less doctors are performing later abortions. 

Most of the doctors do not perform counseling, which is generally a blessing.  They leave that task to the professional counselors, who are usually women. 

Most doctors are good, but there are some bad docs out there.  I’ve written about that in the past.

Years ago, many doctors were wearing bullet proof vests to work but they gave up on them after Doctor Baird Britton was killed when he was shot in the face.  His killer knew that he was wearing a vest.

I want to say thanks to these doctors.    They have stuck their neck out, they have been ridiculed by the peers, they have been harassed and threatened and, yes, murdered.  Yet, they continue to be there for the women who are seeking out their services.