Abortion Doctor Murder

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July 31, 2010

Do Anti-Abortion Laws Cause More Late Term Abortions?

Posted by Pat Richards under Abortion & Religion, Abortion Advocates, Abortion Discussion, Abortion Doctor, Abortion Doctor Murder, Abortion Information, Abortion Late, D&E, Hyde Amendment, Late Term Abortion, Not Informed | Tags: , , , , , |
[23] Comments 
Henry Hyde Abortion

Henry Hyde Late Abortion Creator

The anti-abortion movement thinks abortion should be illegal.  Good for them, go for it, knock yourself out.

I would guess, however, that if they had their druthers, the anti-abortion crowd would also say that if you’re gonna have an abortion you should have it as early as possible.  I mean, it goes without saying that if you wait too long, the fetus will grow and grow and grow.  And no one likes the idea of abortion at 23 or 24 weeks.  Meanwhile, the vast majority of women who get “later” abortions are minors or poor women.  But here’s the irony – it might be the anti-abortion movement that is responsible for a lot of these late term abortions.

Hey, Pat, are you off your rocker?   Have you totally lost it?

Chill out, folks, lemme explain.

A woman receiving Medicaid assistance gets pregnant and decides to have an abortion.  She calls the local clinic and they tell her that the price for a first trimester abortion is $400.  That’s a lot of money for this woman.   Years ago, the anti-abortion movement enacted the “Hyde Amendment” which says that you cannot use your Medicaid card to get an abortion unless your life was endangered.   Now, if there was no such thing as the Hyde Amendment, this woman would just go to that clinic, give them her Medicaid card and have the abortion right away.    But, instead, she is now looking for $400 that she didn’t anticipate needing.  She doesn’t have a credit card, no bank account to speak of, no rich friends.   So, she has to spend precious time finding the $400 somewhere.  Meanwhile, the baby is growing.  Ultimately, she might get the $400 but by that time she is more advanced and abortions cost more money the later they are performed.   It’s a viscous cycle.  Ultimately, she might get the cash but she’s now in her 19th week.

Were it not for the Hyde Amendment, the abortion would have been performed within days of her discovering her pregnancy.

Then there are the minors.    A 15 year old girl discovers she is pregnant.  Now, at that age she might delay any conversation about her situation because she just might not be sure that she is pregnant.  But once she verifies it, the chances are that she lives in a state that requires her to get the permission of her parents.   These laws, of course, are all courtesy of that anti-abortion movement again.   But the girl’s family is not Ozzie and Harriet land.  In fact, she is petrified of going to her parents, one of whom beats her on a regular basis. So she waits and waits, perhaps thinking she might have a miscarriage and the issue will just go away.  In denial, she remains mum.  Then, her stomach starts to expand and, despite her wearing loose clothes, she ultimately is panicking that her parents will notice.  Only at that point, perhaps now in her 18th week, does she reluctantly go to her parents to give them the news and, hopefully, get their permission for an abortion.

If there were no parental consent laws in her state and she felt she could not talk to her parents, she would have found a good friend or close relative that she could confide in and secured the abortion much earlier.

Ironic, isn’t it?

 

July 25, 2010

My Son and Abortion

Posted by Pat Richards under Abortion & Religion, Abortion Candidates, Abortion Discussion, Abortion Doctor, Abortion Doctor Murder, Abortion Doctors that Have Lost Their Medical License, Abortion Heroes, Abortion Information, Abortion Late, Abortion Medical
[64] Comments 

My twenty year old son is an amazing kid.   He graduated number three in his high school class, he is an accomplished musician (he has played with the National Symphony Orchestra) and he is a great golfer (shoots in the 70’s).  In his first two years of college, he made the Dean’s List every semester.   Knock on wood, has never gotten into any serious trouble.    And, having said all of that, I feel a need to add that he is not a nerd!   Indeed, he is 6’4” tall, blond hair and blue eyes.  The girls love him.  This fall he will be attending the University of Virginia where he is majoring in political science.

For the last few months, my son has been dating a woman his age who attends the University of Maryland.  She is majoring in music (she plays the harp).  She is a carbon copy of my son, just another kid who has an incredible future.

Although they don’t want to admit it, come this fall they will probably start to go their separate ways.  Despite the future (or perhaps because of it), it is obvious that things are heating up for them sexually.   Indeed, my son has told me as much.  It’s his first real serious affair.  Several weeks ago, when she visited our house overnight, they slept in the same room.  Yes, it made me feel very weird.   No, check that.  I was FREAKED OUT.   But, I told myself that they are both twenty years old and I gotta just get used to the idea that they are going to have some kind of sex.   So, I didn’t say anything.

Okay, I can hear you born again types screaming:  “They should not be having sex!  What kind of parent are you?”    Well, until you are in my shoes, don’t give me any crap.  Maybe in your day it was normal to not have sex until you married that person but get real, folks.

Actually, my son learned a lot about sex in high school, certainly more than I ever did.  Because they taught him so much, my spouse and I never really had “the talk” with him because he is light years ahead of where I was at his age.  Yes, I have told him that if he ever gets his girlfriend pregnant I will absolutely kill him and he just laughs, as if to suggest that it’s something that would never happen.

The other night he informed us that he was going to her house and that he had to buy some condoms.  I almost lost my lunch, but I kept my cool, being the 21st century hip parent, and just mumbled something like “well, go to the pharmacy.”   He hesitated and asked how did he actually buy the condom, that is, was it on the shelves or did he have to ask the pharmacist?  We told him he could just pick them off the shelves and he left to get them.  I had a quick gin and tonic.

Now, I don’t know if anything happened that night.   And I didn’t ask.  I remember him telling me that his girlfriend was on birth control pills, so I was proud of him that he would be using “double protection.”  But then I started thinking….

What if 7 weeks later, he came to me and said that his girlfriend was pregnant?   For one thing, I know he would be in tears while he told me the news.  But, as we know, accidents do happen.  And, yes, I know, I know, I know – they probably should not be having sex to begin with but these are two amazing kids who, like so many others, are merely acting on their urges and who took extraordinary precautions.  They actually felt they were being responsible.

And the anti-abortion movement would have me look into my son’s eyes and tell him that he is going to be a father and so he better start thinking  about leaving school and finding some kind of job?    Of course, the decision would ultimately be up to his girlfriend, but what if her parents had the same opinion?  It would mean that these two young children who, yes, took a risk, but also took extraordinary precautions would now have their lives changed forever.    And that would happen because some people out there think that a 7 week fetus is worth “saving?”

Are you folks out of your friggin minds?

 

July 17, 2010

Sarah Palin and Abortion

Posted by Pat Richards under Abortion & Religion, Abortion Advocates, Abortion Candidates, Abortion Discussion, Abortion Doctor, Abortion Doctor Murder | Tags: |
[67] Comments 

So, Bristol Palin and Levi Johnston are engaged!

Abortion

Abortion

What the heck?  Is your head spinning like mine?

Okay, let me stop chuckling for a moment and compose myself.    There now.  So, I guess the first thing I want to do is take a moment to wish the lovely young couple well.  I am sure they are looking forward to years and years of marital bliss, lots of kids, Mommy running for President, etc.   Still, there is something sticking in my craw (wherever my craw is).

According to newspaper reports, the kids made the announcement in the latest edition of “Us Weekly” Magazine.  In other words, they didn’t tell Mommy Palin.  Yes, Sarah Palin learned that her daughter was engaged when she picked up “Us Weekly,” one of the few magazines that she probably reads.  And get this – young Bristol said that she didn’t tell her mom in person because “it is intimidating and scary just to think about what her reaction is going to be.”    So, instead, she just went straight to the magazines.

Bristol Palin, the daughter of a Presidential candidate who criss-crossed the country touting the importance of “upholding family values,” was afraid to tell her mother that she was going to get married!   Oh, sweet irony!

But let’s take this a step further, shall we?

A few years ago, then Governor Palin came out publicly in favor of a ballot initiative in Alaska that would have required a minor to notify her parents that she was going to have an abortion.   Indicating her support for the measure, the Governor said that “the young girl should have the counsel of her parents in such a major decision.”     See where I’m going with this one?

So, Governor Palin thinks that when a young girl is contemplating abortion she should feel comfortable enough to run to her parents with the news.  And, even if she is not comfortable, then too bad, you gotta tell your parents anyway and they will surely understand and be sympathetic.

But, wait a second, what about Bristol?   Why didn’t she feel comfortable going to her mom to tell her about this important decision?  Well, as Bristol said herself, she was intimidated.  She was scared.  She just could not face her mother.  And now, her mom is saying that that is Bristol’s decision and she will honor it.

The point I’m trying to make is that folks like Sarah Palin, Rush Limbaugh, Newt Gingrich, et al love going out and talking about how their party is the party of “family values.”  They stand in front of large crowds in a supermarket parking lot and talk about restoring traditions, reminiscing wistfully about the good old days.  Of course, we know about Rush’s drug addiction and Newt’s marriages, but that’s beside the point.  They don’t have to practice family values, they can just go out and say they believe in them.

And Sarah Palin says that every young woman out there who is contemplating an abortion should talk to their parents because, gosh darn it, good families would welcome that kind of discussion and would be oh-so-understanding.    Too bad her daughter didn’t see things that way.

 

July 16, 2010

Abortion Care Network (ACN)

Posted by Elena Carvin under Abortion & Religion, Abortion Advocates, Abortion Candidates, Abortion Discussion, Abortion Doctor, Abortion Doctor Murder, Abortion Documentary, Abortion Heroes, Abortion Information, Crisis Pregnancy Centers (CPCS), Heidi Ewing, Lies, Rachel Grady | Tags: , , , , |
[22] Comments 
Abortion 12th & Delaware

Abortion

Abortion Care Network (ACN)

DON’T MISS the Award Winning HBO Documentary, 12th and Delaware, Monday August 2, at 8 pm Eastern Time.  This extraordinary documentary shines a light on a national disgrace–the proliferation of so called Crisis Pregnancy Centers (CPCS).  CPCS advertise as if they are abortion clinics to trick women who are seeking abortion services into hearing lies and half-truths designed to coerce them to continue pregnancies. Starting in the early 1980’s a network of these centers was set up all over the United States.

Though it can be difficult for a woman to find a real abortion/family planning clinic near her, there are thousands of CPCS. In this documentary Rachel Grady and Heidi Ewing, producers of Jesus Camp,  have captured an unscripted look at a CPC and how women are treated there—and at the abortion clinic across the street and  how women are treated there.   Whatever your thoughts, feelings, and beliefs about abortion, don’t miss this unique opportunity to let both ‘sides’ speak for themselves.

Please forward this to everyone on your e-mail list and invite friends over to watch.

 

July 12, 2010

Abortion and Normal Rockwell

Posted by Pat Richards under Abortion Discussion, Abortion Doctor, Abortion Doctor Murder, Abortion Heroes, Abortion Information, Abortion Late, Abortion Law, Abortion Medical, Abortion Mifeprex, Abortion Pill, Abortion Rights, Abortion RU486 | Tags: , , , , , , |
[118] Comments 
Abortion

Abortion

Yesterday, to escape this blasted heat, I went into Washington, D.C. to catch an exhibit of Norman Rockwell paintings that had been donated by Stephen Speilberg and George Lucas.  It was nice just taking my time walking around, examining every amazing detail in Rockwell’s works.

At one point I came across a piece entitled “Free Speech.”  The piece focuses on one man, standing in the middle of a crowd.  The caption next to the painting said this was a man who disagreed with the crowd on some issue, but his opponents were listening to him intently, respecting his right to say what was on his mind even though they ultimately would not support him.   I was almost brought to tears.

Today, of course, that person would have been shouted down, totally discounted as some nut ball by his opponents.  That’s just where we are as a society these days.  We just don’t listen anymore.  Worse, when someone tries to suggest something contrary to our beliefs, we try to silence him with harsh words, with guffaws, with rolling eyes, as if this person could never say anything that was remotely of some benefit.

Of course, we see this kind of behavior all the time in the abortion debate.  Indeed, the harsh back and forth is probably more pronounced when discussing the abortion issue than any other issue.  We are so locked into our beliefs, the battle lines are drawn oh-so-clearly and you cannot cross them lest you be accused of ceding some valuable territory to the opposition.  Just watch an abortion debate on television.  You know exactly what I mean.  It’s a constant screaming match.    “Abortion is murder!”   “A woman has the right to control her body!”   And on and on and on.

No one is communicating.  They’re just yelling over each other.  Actually, years ago I stopped watching these “debates.”

I’m pro-choice, I’ve worked for pro-choice organizations for years.  But, much to the chagrin of many of my colleagues, years ago I started reaching out to pro-life people in an attempt to try to get inside their head, to learn more about them and, hopefully, to allow them to learn more about me .  I actually started engaging the other side after I learned that a number of the abortion clinics that I represented engaged in the same discussions with their local anti-abortion activists.

At the same time, I challenged my pro-choice colleagues to address the tougher questions about abortion.  When I visited the clinics, I talked to the women and it became clear to me that they were not there to make a statement about their constitutional rights or to promote some feminist ideology.  They were there because they were in a difficult situation and they needed help.  They also had to deal with something that pro-choice organizations would rather not address – they were carrying a baby that they didn’t want.   I soon discovered that the bottom line was that abortion is all so complicated.

So, amidst the screaming and yelling, the women continue to seek abortion services.  I think that anti-abortion folks owe these women more respect and the pro-choice activists should not try to reduce this issue to a simple bumper sticker.  Both sides should listen more to the other side with the goal of having a civil debate about abortion – kinda like that group in the Normal Rockwell painting.

 

July 9, 2010

Abortion, Abortion, Abortion, Abortion

Posted by Pat Richards under Abortion & Religion, Abortion Advocates, Abortion Candidates, Abortion Discussion, Abortion Doctor, Abortion Doctor Murder, Abortion Late, Abortion Law, Abortion Medical, Abortion Mifeprex, Abortion Pill, Abortion Rates, Abortion Rights, Abortion RU486, RU486 | Tags: |
[43] Comments 

 

Abortion Pill

Abortion

I’ve been told that one of the tricks to making a blog more visible is to mention the keyword that you are dealing with as often as you can.  In this case, of course, the word is ABORTION.   If you mention a word like ABORTION as often as possible, it gets indexed better, or it gets picked by the Googles or something happens that is good.   I don’t get it.  ABORTION.

 

So, I try to come up with an ABORTION topic every few days but I gotta tell you that this has been an incredibly sucky week for me and I don’t have the energy to write about ABORTION or the anti-ABORTION people or late term ABORTION.  I just want this ABORTION of a week to end.

It started late Saturday night when my 20 year old son, who I did not ABORT, complained of severe stomach pains.  Ultimately, we took him to our local hospital, which does not do ABORTIONS, and he sat there for four hours.  Fortunately, I talked over the phone to my good friend, Doctor Scott, and he made us feel a little better about his situation.  My son ultimately survived, unlike the fetus during an ABORTION.

Then the next day, I got hit with the same stomach cramps.  They felt much like the cramps you get when you have a non-surgical ABORTION.  I got feverish, had the runs like you wouldn’t believe.  I spent hours and hours in the bathroom.  Probably the most annoying thing was every time I made my trek to the porcelain God, my stupid dog followed me in and just stared at me.  Do they perform ABORTIONS on dogs?  All she wanted to do was play with her damned rubber toy.  Hey, dog, get outta my face!  Can’t you see I’m peeing through my butt here?

The next few days were a blur, like the days following an ABORTION.  One day I just took Nyquil and slept for 24 straight hours.  I mean, I missed everything.  We could have been hit with a nuclear bomb and I wouldn’t have known it.  It was surreal.

Then, of course, to add insult to injury there was the heat.  It got as hot around here as a saline ABORTION (which they don’t do anymore, by the way).  Here in Virginia, it climbed over 100 degrees, there was no rain, the air did not move, everything turned brown in three days.  We broke records.   And some folks are still telling me there’s no global warming issue.  Those folks should be ABORTED.

By Wednesday night, I was able to eat some unbuttered toast and hot tea.  Hurray!  Finally, something solid in my stomach.  Five minutes later, I threw it up.

Have I mentioned ABORTION lately?

This morning, however, I feel like I’m turning the corner.  I feel like there’s some light at the end of the tunnel, that a new day is dawning.  The temperature has dropped to a lovely 98 degrees and we actually had a 27 second cloudburst this morning.  The birds are chirping again.  I feel like my life is back on track.   Kinda like after you’ve had an ABORTION.

 

July 6, 2010

Tom Jefferson and Abortion

Posted by Pat Richards under Abortion Advocates, Abortion Candidates, Abortion Discussion, Abortion Doctor, Abortion Doctor Murder, Abortion Late, Abortion Law, Abortion Medical, Abortion Mifeprex, Abortion Pill, Thomas Jefferson | Tags: |
[6] Comments 
Jeferson Abortion

Abortion Pills

I hope everyone had a pleasant and safe Fourth of July.  Of course, when we think of Independence Day we no doubt think about our basic freedoms that were articulated so elegantly in the Declaration of Independence.   We think wistfully of our Founding Fathers, debating back and forth for months upon end in the steaming heat of that Philadelphia summer.

Or, I could be wrong.

Maybe most folks just think about tossing firecrackers at passing automobiles from the parkway overhang or pigging out on beer and hot dogs.  Or maybe Independence Day is that Will Smith movie where the aliens blew up the White House.  You decide.  As for me, thinking me-self a scholar of sorts, I will take the high road.

We all know by now that the word “abortion” is not in the Declaration of Independence or in the U.S. Constitution.  Indeed, I am no expert but I’ll venture to guess that the word never even came up during the deliberations over those two historic documents.    Now, the pro-lifers will say: “Wake up, Pat, the framers were thinking about abortion when they wrote that we are guaranteed “LIFE, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”    So, there’s the proof that Jefferson, Franklin, et al were opposed to abortion.   That’s a bunch of horse dung and everyone knows it.   Chances are that when Jefferson read that line aloud to the delegates, they all looked at him and said “good line, Tommy, let’s get on with it” and there was no discussion after that.  They had more important things to discuss, like the question of slavery.

Ultimately, as we all know, on January 22, 1973 the U.S. Supreme Court handed down the landmark Roe v Wade decision.  Ironically, the decision was not the headline of the day because on that same day President Lyndon Baines Johnson died.  In the Roe decision, the Court said basically said that the constitutional right to privacy extended to the right of a woman to obtain an abortion.  Yes, the word “privacy” cannot be found anywhere in the original Constitution but that document is a living document, our interpretation of it evolves (if it didn’t, blacks would still be using separate bathrooms) and in previous decisions the Court had determined that married couples had a right to privacy when it came to birth control.  So, this decision took that right one step further.

In so many words, Blackmun and the 6 other justices who joined him, said that a woman could have an abortion through the second trimester with basically no questions asked.  After the fetus became viable, the states could impose restrictions (which most of them have).  Thus started the abortion wars.  The pro-life movement was born, the battle lines were drawn and the public was subjected to decades of dueling bumper stickers.

Interestingly, the ONLY time the pro-life movement was able to force a vote reversing the Roe v Wade decision was in 1983, when the Senate overwhelming defeated the Hatch Constitutional Amendment.  It was not even close.  While pro-life forces needed 67 votes to pass the Amendment, they didn’t even get a majority.  The final vote was 49 in favor and 51 against.  Since then, despite the fact that pro-life Congressmen have chaired important committees (e.g., Cong. Henry Hyde chaired the House Judiciary Committee), no similar measure has ever been considered by the Congress.    The bottom line is that the pro-life movement just does not have the votes to outlaw abortion.    So, we’re in good shape there.

But watch out for the Supreme Court, folks.  That’s another story.

 

July 2, 2010

My Abortion List

Posted by Pat Richards under Abortion, Abortion Candidates, Abortion Discussion, Abortion Doctor, Abortion Doctor Murder, Abortion Information, Abortion Late, Abortion Medical, Abortion Mifeprex, Abortion Pill, Abortion Rates, Abortion Rights, Abortion RU486, Methotrexate, RU486
[40] Comments 
Abortion Manson

Manson should have Been Aborted

Okay, right up front – a confession.   Had a great day today, beautiful outside, just opened up a nice bottle of Southern Comfort and have imbibed generously.  So, if you catch some typos in this slightly unusual blog, too bad…

Anti-abortion folks like to argue that when we abort a fetus, we could be aborting the next Mozart or Einstein or Britney Spears.   They say the next abortion could have been the person who found the cure for cancer or who assassinated the founder of Fox News.   Of course, they fail to mention that we also could be aborting the next Hitler or Sarah Palin, but that’s beside the fact, right?

But this got me to thinking about aborting real people.  What if I could go back in time, like in “Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure” and convince the mother of some person to abort them?   Who would I pick?  Go back, go back, go……..

So, to begin with, and in the interests of being politically correct, I’d pick Charles Manson, the 9-11 terrorists and their buddy Bin Laden, Lee Harvey Oswald, Ted Bundy, the guy who started the plague and Mark David Chapman.   Sure, there are probably hundreds of others and I welcome your input, but that’s my first team off the top of my head.  Okay, now let’s get really personal.

Mrs. Bell, my third grade teacher.   You’re outta here!   She made that year at Captree Elementary School a living hell for me.   She screamed and yelled and generally terrorized me and my classmates for the whole year.  She made me stand in the corner of the room for 4 straight hours because she thought I was talking too much.  She would regularly come up behind me and – WHAM – slap me on the head with her ruler.  I woke up every morning with a stomach ache because of her.    Abort Mrs. Bell.

Then let’s abort that Board of Directors that fired me years ago from a wonderful job where I thought I was doing wonderful work.   Totally out of the blue, no warning, nothing.   Just a mysterious morning email that said “Pat, we need to talk to day.  It’s serious.”   The Board had decided it was time for a change.  I was making good money, had been there forever, was really making a difference and – WHAM – you’re outta there!  Had to go home that night and tell the family that I was out.  Horrible, horrible, stuff.  Abort them all.  Well, not all of them cause since then I’ve made up with a few of them.  But there are a few….

While we’re at it, abort Sandy Koufax.   For years and years, my beloved New York Yankees won World Series after World Series, giving me neighborhood bragging rights.  But in the first game of the 1963 World Series, we faced Koufax, who was pitching for the Los Angeles Dodgers.  And in that first game he beat us handily, breaking the record for most strikeouts in a World Series game.  He totally embarrassed my team and, by extension, me.   We never recovered and lost the Series in four straights friggin games.   The Yanks didn’t recover for years.    Sure, he’s a nice guy but – Abort Koufax.

Abort anyone who smokes.   Growing up in New York, my house was a virtual smokehouse.  Everyone smoked, including the dog.  They smoked at the dinner table, they smoked in bed, they smoked in the hospital while they were visiting a relative dying of lung cancer.  Smoke, smoke, smoke.  I was the only one who didn’t smoke.  But I know the secondhand smoke is gonna get me one day, I just know it.  The Big C.  Adios, amigos.

Anyone who goes slow in the left lane – abort those turkeys!  I mean, who the hell was their driving instructor?  There they are, going 50 miles an hour in the “passing lane,” in a virtual coma, with me and twenty other cars ready to put it into fifth gear.  But they are oblivious.   I honk my horn till I’m blue in the face and they are in la – la land.  Abort them, abort those suckers while they’re driving.

I could go on and on:  the creator of reality shows, anyone who likes cats, people who read their blackberries while they’re talking to you, the inventor of the Pet Rock, the entire cast of “Mamma Mia,” and, yes, Rush Limbaugh.

Oh, there are so many others.  Maybe I’ll copy Neal Horsley and start my own hit list.

 

June 23, 2010

The Nuremberg Files Abortion

Posted by Pat Richards under Abortion & Religion, Abortion Advocates, Abortion Candidates, Abortion Discussion, Abortion Doctor, Abortion Doctor Murder, Abortion Heroes, Abortion Information, Abortion Late, Abortion Law, Abortion Medical, Abortion Mifeprex, Abortion Pill, Abortion Rates, Abortion Rights, Abortion RU486, Abortion Violence | Tags: , , , , , , |
[47] Comments 

Let’s talk about the “Nuremberg Files.”

Just go to www.christiangallery.com and you’ll see this graphic and wacky website.  It was created years ago by some yahoo named Neal Horsley and for years it struck fear in the heart of many a pro-choicer.    Then, there were some of us who actually found it quite amusing.  More about that later.

I recall we first got wind of this site right after Doctor David Gunn was murdered in Pensacola in 1993.    The site is a list of abortion doctors, clinic staff, clinic owners, pro-choice legislators and leaders of pro-choice groups.  The list was supposedly a list of people who would be “brought to trial when abortion became illegal.”    You know, like the Nuremberg trials.  To add flavor, the site is adorned with lots of red, dripping blood.

What got everyone’s attention was that soon after David Gunn was killed his name, which had been on the list of doctors, had a mysterious line drawn through it.  The pro-choice community went nuts.  Look, they cried in horror, it’s a hit list!  They’re gonna get us all!   The feds jumped all over it but couldn’t do much about it.  Then, the next year, Doctor Baird Britton was murdered by Paul Hill and, oh my God, his name suddenly had a line through it!  The pro-choice community couldn’t believe what was happening, they begged the federal government to shut down this website which they alleged was encouraging, if not commanding, less than normal people to go out and kill those who were on the list.

Mass hysteria paralyzed the pro-choice community.

But then there were those of us who were privately laughing about the whole thing.  Those who had been regularly harassed, terrorized and stalked for years just looked at this list and chuckled.  Then we started comparing notes and found it amusing that some of the folks on the list had retired years earlier or had died years before from natural causes.  We also laughed that anti-choice legislators like Senator Bob Dole were on the list for some bizarre reason.

Still, the media had something sexy.  They had a legal “hit list” and, as a result, Neal Horsley became an overnight talk show sensation.  Or course, he denied that it was a hit list, but he was smart enough to sound like it was one without risking an indictment.  And he knew the pro-choice community was scared shitless.

As for me, I was at the National Coalition of Abortion Providers at the time and I was ticked off that my name was not on the list.   After all, all my colleagues were on it:  Susan Hill, George Tiller, Eleanor Smeal and others.  How come I wasn’t important enough to be on the list?  Others in the field who were not on the list had the same reaction.

So, I picked up the phone and called Neal Horsley, who lived in Georgia at the time.  He didn’t answer but I left a message asking him to please put me on his list.  A few days later, I was on it!

I was back home with my friends.

 

June 21, 2010

Men and Abortion

Posted by Pat Richards under Abortion, Abortion & Religion, Abortion Advocates, Abortion Candidates, Abortion Discussion, Abortion Doctor, Abortion Doctor Murder, Abortion Heroes, Abortion Information, Abortion Late, Abortion Medical, Abortion Mifeprex, Abortion Pill, Abortion Rights, Abortion RU486 | Tags: , |
[15] Comments 

Well, I guess the day after Father’s Day is as good as any to talk about men and abortion.

It goes without saying that most men are affected when their partner becomes pregnant.  I say “most” because we know there are jerks out there who are just into the wham-bam-thank you m’am mode of relationships.  Let’s put them aside for the moment.  No, on second thought, let’s cut their ____ off.

But I digress.

When a woman becomes pregnant and is not sure what to do, she will generally talk to the man who was involved.  But the fact that there are two people involved means that there could be a difference of opinion on what to do.  The bottom line, of course, is that if there is a conflict, then the woman’s opinion must prevail.  After all, it is her body, right?  Indeed, a number of years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that laws requiring the spouse’s consent to an abortion were unconstitutional.

I’ll say right up front that I can’t prove this, but I have to believe that when faced with this difficult decision both parties usually arrive at the same conclusion.  I’m thinking particularly of more established couples (versus one night stands), where they’ve been either dating for a long time, have been living together or are married.  You gotta assume that if they’ve been together for a while then they are generally pretty simpatico (although my parents were an exception to that rule).  So, the vast majority of couples don’t face any problems.

And while the decision to have an abortion is ultimately the woman’s, we all want to be sensitive to the man’s situation.   That’s why it is important for the man to convey all of his feelings to his partner.  He may be feeling guilty about “getting a woman pregnant.”  He may be concerned that the woman might want to discontinue the relationship.  He may be thinking about that son that he could have had.  If the man is invested in the relationship, then his feelings are just as complex and need to be recognized.

But, again, at some point the woman may decide to have the abortion and the man may feel a little lost in the process.  He may not know what to do, what to say.  But there are a number of things the man can do during the abortion process.

Tell your partner that you’re sorry she is the one who has to go through this physically;

I know this is hard for some men but, yes, ask her how she’s feeling and give her some kind of gift;

Don’t even think about sex for a while because she may not be ready.  After all, it was sex that put her in that predicament, right?

Talk, talk, talk.  You know how women are – they love to process while men prefer one word answers so they can get back to the ball game.  So, suck it up, dudes, and talk to her.

 

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