Abortion Doctor

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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.

 

June 16, 2010

Common Ground on 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 

In my last blog, I wrote about my relationship with Mr. Guy Condon, an anti-abortion activist who ran a number of crisis pregnancy centers across the country.  I noted that we had been brought together by an organization called “Common Ground,” which has since closed its doors.

The folks at Common Ground had a very ambitious and, yes, “sexy” agenda.  Their goal was to bring together parties on both sides of controversial issues in an effort to find areas of possible agreement.  So, for example, with the abortion issue, they tried to craft an agreement on how to reduce the number of abortions.   I don’t think they ever succeeded in that particular quest but for a while, this group was much in vogue, they got tons of publicity and lots of money from certain foundations.  Ultimately, however, they were forced to shut their doors.  Honestly, I don’t know what happened and I don’t have the energy to try to research the rise and fall of Common Ground.  Suffice it to say that they are gone.

What many people never realized, however, was that every day there were similar efforts taking place on a smaller scale at the abortion clinics.  No, anti-abortion and pro-choice folks were not sitting down and hashing out peace agreements or crafting joint legislation.   But activists on both sides of the abortion issue were talking and have been talking for years.

The dynamic at an abortion clinic is fascinating.   Generally speaking, the clinic staff people will arrive at the same time and they always know when their local protestors will be out there.  Saturday is usually the biggest day as more women are able to get away from work to have an abortion.  Normally, you would think that the staffers would just walk in and exchange harsh glances or even harsh words with the protestors.   And, yes, in some cases the two sides just didn’t talk and, indeed, there was great animosity.  But there were so many other instances where the clinic staff developed some kind of relationship with their protestors.

Over the years, clinic staffers would tell me how they would bring coffee out to their protestors on cold, winter days or ice tea in the middle of the summer.  Others would actually invite their protestors into the clinic for a tour of the facility.  Several clinic administrators told me that on occasion they would have lunch with the lead protestor in an effort to develop a mutual understanding of their work.  Some clinic staff told me that they would have conversations with the director of the local anti-abortion crisis pregnancy center and even refer women to them if they felt it would be helpful.   It was as if there was a general truce at these clinics and even a curiosity about that person on the other side of the fence.

I’ve already talked about how my relationship with Paul Hill might have saved the lives of a number of abortion providers in Pensacola in 1994.   Of course, no one can prove that talking to the other side might prevented some kind of tragedy but many of the clinic administrators (or doctors) who regularly engaged with “the enemy” told me that the conversations resulted in a less tense environment outside the clinic.  They said that after the protestors got to understand a little more about what motivated the clinic workers and the mindset of the women, the protestors were inclined to be less “angry.”

The fact is that activists on this controversial issue, and that includes abortion clinic staff, are usually pretty myopic when it comes to listening to arguments from the other side.   They usually just listen to their leaders of their own movements, cite their studies, and regurgitate their talking points.  They think that the other side could not possibly have anything meaningful to say, that they are all just out to lunch.  So, both sides stick their heads in the sand, become intractable and, as a consequence, the tensions increase.

But because of the bravery of some people on both sides of the issue, peace broke out years ago at some of the clinics that slowed abortion providers and protestors to continue their work in a less-than-hostile environment.

In that regard, I think “Common Ground” worked.

 

June 14, 2010

Abortion and My Friend, the Enemy

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 | Tags: , , |
[34] Comments 

In the mid-1990’s, as a staff person for the National Coalition of Abortion Providers, I met a young, affable man named Guy Condon.  Guy was the Executive Director of Care Net, a chain of anti-abortion “crisis pregnancy centers” that were located in all parts of the country.

Yes, Guy was the enemy.

And, about a year later, his wife reserved for me a space in the front pew at their church for his funeral service.

Guy and I met as part of a national effort called “Common Ground,” a well-funded organization that brought together adversaries on controversial topics in the hopes of reaching a mutual understanding or, in rare cases, agreement, on certain issues.   In my case, I was asked to join a group of three pro-choicers and three pro-lifers around a table to talk once a month.   As you can imagine, the meetings were very tense at first, as the years and years of hatred made it difficult to trust the process or to not think you were being set up.  Still, I basically trust people so I jumped right in.  From the beginning, I shocked everyone (including my “side”) by candidly addressing the tough issues on abortion (as I do in this blog on a regular basis).  Guy reacted well to my approach and he followed suit.

We continued our conversations over the phone, on line, in separately arranged lunches.  He admitted to me that he was very concerned that some of the other crisis pregnancy centers were luring women into their facilities under false pretenses or giving them incorrect information.  He invited me to visit his centers, which I did, and, unless they were very clever, I got the clear sense that these folks really just wanted to help women in their time of need.  And the help that they offered extended after the women decided to have a child in the form of job counseling, computer training, day care at reduced fees, etc.  Sure, they couldn’t take care of the kid from cradle to grave, but at least they were trying to help.

Meanwhile, I talked to Guy about our clinics, about why women came to us, their decision making process, what motivated our doctors to provide abortions.  Eventually, after months of conversations, he told me that he wanted to write an article for “Christianity Today” about our relationship and asked my permission, which I readily gave.  I didn’t even ask him what he was going to write, I trusted him that much.  Still, he volunteered that he wanted to convey how I had made him understand more about the abortion process and the women who were in that difficult situation.

Two days later, Guy Condon was killed in a car accident, leaving behind three beautiful girls and his wife.

When I heard the news, I was stunned.  I was equally shocked when I got a call from Guy’s assistant  who invited me to his funeral.  I struggled for a day, knowing that if I went I would be surely going into some kind of “lion’s den” of pro-life leaders.  And what would my pro-choice colleagues think when they heard I had attended the funeral?   Surely, I could not explain to all of them that we had been friends.  Ultimately, however, I decided our friendship came first, not the politics of abortion, so that Saturday morning, I drove out to Manassas to the funeral.

As I entered the church and looked around, it felt like I had entered the National Right to Life Annual Meeting.  I quickly noticed Joe Scheidler, one of the founders of the protest movement, and Father Frank Pavone, the head of Priests for Life.  I didn’t know what to do or where to go, how to act, whether or not to make eye contact.   Ultimately, however, someone rescued me and escorted me through the crowd to the front pew.  I was dizzy, I felt all of those eyes on me and I started to wonder if I had done the right thing.

After the ceremony, a reception line formed and I got in line, trying to think of what I would say to his wife.  When I got up to her and extended my hand, I stumbled.   “Hi, my name is Pat Richards and I knew Guy…”   Before I could explain my relationship with Guy, his wife hugged me and said “Oh, Pat, he talked about you all the time!”   I started to cry.   I am almost in tears at this very moment thinking of her gracious welcome.  Then, I shook the hands of his three children and one of them said “My Daddy said you were very funny.”   I totally lost it.

I made it to the punch and cookies table and was surrounded by the pro-life movement.  They were all thanking me for coming, but I didn’t know them and  couldn’t trust them.  But I trusted Guy and that’s why I was there.  I practically ran outside to my car and broke down.

 

June 7, 2010

Abortion Rights Groups Raising Money

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

Okay.  This one may piss off a bunch of my friends, but here it goes…

We recently commemorated the one year anniversary of the murder of Doctor George Tiller.  And I think it’s kind of sucky that a number of national pro-choice organizations used the occasion to try to raise money “in honor” of this wonderful man.  For example, just go to the NARAL Pro Choice America website and look at the first page.  In big bold letters, there it is for all to see:  “Donate in Memory of Doctor Tiller.”  Then, towards the top of the page in smaller letters is another fundraiser:  “Buy the ‘Trust Women’ wristband….”

In the early 1990’s, a handful of independent abortion providers got together in Washington, D.C. to form the National Coalition of Abortion Providers.  Doctor Tiller was not in the original group but he quickly joined the organization.  One of the main reasons why NCAP was formed was the concern that  the major pro-choice groups were not representing the unique interests of abortion providers and, worse, were reluctant to associate with the doctors and the staff who actually performed the abortions.  Oh, sure, they’d take their donations contributions but ask them to testify before Congress?  No way.  “They make their money off of abortions, so their testimony would be tainted,” one pro-choice leader told me years ago.

After NCAP was formed (to the chagrin of several pro-choice groups), abortion providers became much more vocal and aggressive.  They embarked on a campaign urging their colleagues to not shy away from the “A” word.  Doctor Tiller was part of that effort.   Still, over the years, the groups not only continued to avoid talking about abortion but they took steps to get as far away from the issue as possible.   For example, the organization that was formerly known as the National Abortion Rights Action League changed its name to the less strident “NARAL Pro Choice America.”   It was always my feeling that they did that in the hope that over time people will totally forget what “NARAL” stood for and so the word “abortion” would be totally obfuscated.

Meanwhile, George Tiller and his colleagues were out there on the front lines, being unapologetic about performing abortions, sending their message through NCAP and, to some extent, the National Abortion Federation.

And now that George is dead, they are using his memory to raise money.  It makes my stomach flip-flop a little, but it’s hard to articulate why.  After all, I am sure that George gave money to all the groups but…

I am reminded of an incident that occurred soon after the murder of Doctor David Gunn in Pensacola in 1993.  I was sitting in a restaurant in New York City with Doctor Gunn’s son, David Gunn, Jr., just before he was scheduled to do a major television interview.    It was about 6 days after his father’s murder.  Waiting for our coffee, I started skimming the New York Times and on the fifth or sixth page there was a full page advertisement sponsored by a major pro-choice group with a picture of Doctor Gunn and a headline that read something like “He Died to Protect Your Rights.”   And, of course, it was asking for contributions for some kind of abortion provider “protection fund.”  I folded the paper and handed it to David.

“Well, David, so it begins.”

David looked at the ad and started to choke up.  He then said, “Who said they could do this?   I didn’t give them permission.  Geez, my Dad didn’t even like __________ (the national organization).”

Of course, there was nothing David, Jr. could do about the ad and we ultimately heard it raised an incredible amount of money.  And it also inspired David, Jr. to do an ad for the National Coalition of Abortion Providers, the association that his father was actually associated with.  Unfortunately, by the time that ad was done, other groups had jumped on the bandwagon and basically tapped out all the contributions.

Over the years, each time another doctor was killed, there were bets within the abortion provider community as to which pro-choice group would be the first to get an ad out asking for money.

And so, David, Jr., it continues.

 

June 4, 2010

Are They Really Pro-Choice?

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

The other day I wrote about how a reporter for Fox News let Governor Mitt Romney off the hook when Romney suggested that he is “pro-life.” I expressed my puzzlement that the reporter did not ask the obvious follow up question which would have flushed out exactly what “pro-life” meant. I argued that it was one thing to say you’re “pro-life,” but it’s another thing to say that, as President, you are going to fight to make abortion illegal in this country again.

Well, this duplicity works on the pro-choice side as well.

First of all, like Mitt Romney (who used to be pro-choice), there are many politicians who have flipped from the pro-life side to the pro-choice side. I’ll never forget years ago, when the Reverend Jesse Jackson indicated his interest in securing the Democratic Party’s nomination for President. Until that point, Jackson had been openly pro-life. But he could read the tea leaves and he knew that the Democratic Party activists, i.e., the ones who would name the nominee, were overwhelmingly pro-choice. So, Jackson simply switched his position. There are others who did the same. Congressman Edward Markey of Massachusetts once got the notion of being a U.S. Senator from that state. Markey, a strong Catholic, had voted pro-life for many years and it served him well in his heavily Catholic district. However, when he started to focus on a statewide seat and looked at the polls, he knew he had to switch to pro-choice. He did, but still didn’t get the nomination. Interestingly, he remained in Congress and voted pro-choice from then on with no damage to his office. Then, there was Senator Edward Kennedy who, in the early days, argued that “life begins at conception.” Ultimately, however, he made the slow switch over to the pro-choice position.

But what does it mean to be pro-choice? Here’s where you have to be careful. There are a number of politicians who say they are pro-choice, but that just means that they would not make abortion illegal in this country. Ultimately, however, his or her constituents might discover that their Member of Congress actually supports parental consent laws, 24 hour waiting periods, informed consent laws and other proposals that restrict access to abortion services. Sorry, folks, I forgot to tell you about that one!

So, when some politician gets up and says they are pro-life or pro-choice, don’t let them off the hook! Ask the follow up questions, just like the reporters do at the White House press conferences. Delve into their feelings about the issue. After all, chances are very high that that politician will never get a chance to vote on the legalization of abortion, but they will be voting on the ancillary issues, on proposals that practically make the right to abortion null and void.

 

June 2, 2010

Paul Hill and Me

Posted by Pat Richards under Abortion, Abortion & Religion, Abortion Discussion, Abortion Doctor, Abortion Medical, Abortion Rights, Abortion Violence | Tags: , , , , , |
[31] Comments 

I met Paul Hill about a week after Doctor David Gunn was killed in Pensacola, Florida.  We were about to take the stage of The Donohue Show and we were munching vegetables in the “green room.”  I introduced myself, not knowing who he was, but we didn’t have time to talk.  Minutes later, he was telling a national television audience that it was “justifiable homicide” to kill a doctor who performed abortions.  Three other pro-choice spokespeople were on the stage with us and I sat next to Paul.

When he started talking, I thought the audience was going to lynch him.  No one had ever heard this kind of talk.  More interestingly, it was coming from a pleasant looking man with a sheepish grin, not your typical rabble-rousing, screaming zealot.  He seemed like an Iowa farm boy who had gotten lost in the Big Apple.  During the commercial breaks, I chatted with him a bit as I was always interested in knowing how “the other side” thinks.

Over the next few months, I would see Paul at various pro-life demonstrations.  As a staff person for the National Coalition of Abortion Providers, I would go to the events to lend support to the clinics that we represented.  If I saw Paul outside, I would simply walk through the hundreds of protestors and go up to him, shake his hand, ask how the kids were.  If we had time, we would sit and chat about his views.  He would ask me lots of questions about how abortions were performed and the women who sought them.

At one point, at a demonstration in Birmingham, Alabama, I asked him if he thought it was okay to kill a doctor, then why hadn’t he done it himself?   “You know, Pat, that’s a good question and a lot of people ask me the same thing,” he said.  “But I feel I can do more as a leader of this movement than a doer.”   He then told me how many of his colleagues in the pro-life movement had been harassing him about his theory, almost calling his bluff.  Indeed, during the same rally, a leader of the anti-abortion group, Operation Rescue, asked me if I would give him any “intelligence” on Hill because they were concerned that he might kill a doctor.  Talk about a bizarre situation.

In March, 1994, NCAP held an open air rally at the site of Doctor Gunn’s murder to commemorate the one year anniversary of that horrible event.  About 100 abortion doctors and staff attended the ceremony.  Paul Hill was the only protestor there.  There were a few security guards circulating around, but they really didn’t offer much protection to us.   Throughout the ceremony, Hill just walked around the edge of the group with a large sign, but he was very quiet.

Later that year, Paul Hill killed Doctor Britton in Pensacola.  I never thought he could pull the trigger, but I was wrong.  He was quickly convicted and sentenced to die.

A few months later, filled with some liquid courage, I called Paul at his jail.  It was just a spur of the moment thing.  The receptionist told me he couldn’t accept calls, so I left a message.   The next morning, I was at my desk in the office when the phone rang and our receptionist buzzed me.  “Pat, it’s Paul Hill.”  I almost lost my lunch.

“Hello, Paul.”

“Hello, Pat, how are you?”

“Well, I guess I’m better than you, Paul.”   I hesitated, then decided to just jump in.  “Paul, why the hell did you kill Doctor Britton?   What did you think you would accomplish?”

“Well, Pat, I thought it was time to send a signal to others to take up the cause.”  I felt like I was having an out of body experience, talking to a guy on death row.

“Okay, Paul, but here’s what I don’t understand.  When we had our open air event in Pensacola and you were walking around, there were about 100 abortion providers there with no protection, we were all sitting ducks.   Why didn’t you just wipe us all out at that point?”

“Well, Pat, don’t think I didn’t think about it but, honestly, I ultimately decided that I didn’t want to disrupt your event.  You always were respectful of my opinions, so….”

I didn’t hear the rest of what he said.  My mind just could not register his words.   Then, I ultimately heard him invite me to his execution.  My head started spinning again, but through my haze I told him that I didn’t support capital punishment so I had to decline his invitation.  A few months later, Paul Hill left this world, leaving his wife and two children behind.

 

June 1, 2010

Mr. Romney and Abortion

Posted by Pat Richards under Abortion, Abortion & Religion, Abortion Candidates, Abortion Discussion, Abortion Doctor, Abortion Information, Abortion Late, Abortion Law, Abortion Medical, Abortion Rights, Vote | Tags: |
[4] Comments 

Yesterday, in the comfort of my air-conditioned basement, I was channel surfing when I suddenly saw the image of Mitt Romney, the erstwhile Republican presidential candidate.  He was being interviewed by Juan Williams from Fox TV.  Romney, of course, has a new book out that he is hawking, the title being something macho like “America Without Apologies.”   Don’t quote me on that.  Of course, this confirms that he is running again for President as it seems to be a prerequisite that you have to write a book before you run for President.

At one point, Williams asked Romney the question:  “Tell me, Mr. Romney, how do you feel about abortion?”

I always laugh at this point because I have no doubt that whenever any politician is asked that question, their blood pressure goes up a little.  No one running for office ever wants to talk about the issue for good reason.  No matter what they say, they’re gonna piss off someone out there in the audience.

After a moment, Romney says “well, Juan, I am pro-life.”

Juan stares at him, nods his head knowingly, I move to the edge of my seat waiting for the follow up question and – nothing.  Williams just asks about the Olympics or something else as equally inane.  What the heck!

“I am pro-life.”

That’s it, Mitt?   No explanation?

For those of you who have been following Romney’s career, you know that he was Governor of (flaming liberal until Scott Brown won now we don’t know what you should call us) Massachusetts and, in that capacity, he was unabashedly pro-choice.   Then, lo and behold, he started thinking about running for President on the Republican ticket and soon learned that there was now way he could get the nomination if he was pro-choice.  So, he “converted.”  Just flat out announced one day:  “Oh, by the way, I am pro-life.”

Now a politician flip flopping on an issue is not unusual, including the abortion issue.  I’m not gonna get into that discussion.  What caused me to drop my Coors light into my tub of Kentucky Fried was the shock of Juan Williams letting him get away with that simple answer.  First of all, what does that mean exactly?   Isn’t everyone “pro-life” in one way or another?   Second, if I were a hard core, anti-abortion Republican and Romney wanted my support I would ask the obvious follow up question:

“Does that mean, Mr. Romney, that you support a constitutional amendment banning abortion and, if so, will you use the Presidency to get such an amendment passed in the Congress and the states?”

It’s an obvious question because so many Republicans in the past have given lip service to the pro-life movement but, for fear of angering the political middle, they really do nothing to help them reach their ultimate goal of making abortion illegal in this country.  Remember George Bush and his wimpy support for the “culture of life?”   What the hell did that mean?  Even Ronald Reagan, the darling of conservatives, ticked off the pro-life movement with his very lukewarm support of the Hatch Constitutional Amendment banning abortion.  Oh, sure, they all give a speech to the troops when they hold their annual “March for Life” in Washington, D.C. but that is just tossing them a bone.  Still, the troops suck it up, they are oh so thrilled that the President would address them (not in person but from the White House) before they marched onto the Supreme Court.  It is just so easy to pull the wool over people’s eyes.  It happens all the time on a lot of different issues.

So, Mitt, what exactly are ya gonna do to make abortion illegal in this country if you get into the White House?  Or, are ya gonna do anything?

 

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