Abortion

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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?

 

May 28, 2010

Susan Hill

Posted by Pat Richards under Abortion, Abortion Advocates, Abortion Discussion, Abortion Doctor, Abortion Doctor Murder, Abortion Heroes, Abortion Information, Abortion Late, Abortion Law, Abortion Rights | Tags: , , , , , |
[16] Comments 

Almost one year ago, Doctor George Tiller was murdered in Wichita, Kansas.  This event garnered national headlines and this week pro-choice groups are honoring his memory.   I knew George Tiller well and have already expressed my thoughts about him (see above).    But a few months after he was killed, another pro-choice leader died and her death did not attract as much attention as Doctor Tiller’s murder.   Her name was Susan Hill.

The first time I saw Susan Hill was at a meeting of the Board of Directors of the National Abortion Rights Action League.  When she walked into a room, she literally lit up the place.  A vivacious blond with a warm southern accent, she could charm the heck out of you.  But if you crossed her, she could cut your lungs out.

Susan was the owner of several abortion clinics scattered throughout the country.  For the most part, she placed her clinics in areas where women needed access to abortion services, places like Fargo, North Dakota, Fort Wayne, Indiana and Jackson, Mississippi.  Ultimately, because they were so isolated, these clinics became the target of very intense anti-abortion activity.  I still have a picture in my mind of Susan,  in high heels and short skirt, standing defiantly in front of the doorway of her Fort Wayne clinic facing hundreds of protestors who were blocking access to her clinic.  Meanwhile, her clinic in Fargo was regularly covered in the national press because of the constant protests, death threats, bombings and other forms of harassment.

Years after I met her at NARAL, she asked me if I would help form the National Coalition of Abortion Providers.  Her reasoning was that, while there were other pro-choice groups in Washington, D.C., the abortion providers needed their own person on Capitol Hill representing their particular interests.  As she often said to me, “the groups are great at defending ‘choice,’ but when it comes to abortion they disappear pretty quickly.”

Working through NCAP, Susan and several other key abortion providers helped pass the first federal law protecting doctors, staff and women seeking access to abortion.  Indeed, when President Clinton signed the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act into law, she was there.   When the bullets started flying,  Susan bravely became a face of the providers, never shying away from going on a television show to talk (proudly) about what she did for a living.   She testified before the Congress, she met with the Attorney General to demand protection for her and her colleagues, and she put her money where her mouth was, always ready to make a contribution to a pro-choice cause.

She had one of the finest political minds of anyone I’ve ever met.  But we wouldn’t just talk about politics.  We talked about baseball (she was once married to a professional player), movies, books and even our love lives.  She was a brilliant strategist and an above average golfer.  And she could demonstrate a heart of gold.  When my father died a few days before Easter, I drove down to Myrtle Beach for the ceremony and stopped at her house on the way back home.  Knowing I had been preoccupied over the last few days, she presented me with two Easter baskets for my young boys.

About twenty years ago, her twin sister, Nancy, died of breast cancer.  It was a terrible experience for Susan and she literally disappeared for two years helping Nancy through the ordeal.  Then, about two years ago, I got the horrible news that Susan had contracted the same deadly disease.  Unfortunately, she cut off all communication with her friends for fear that the anti-abortion movement would find out that she was dying and try to exploit the situation.  As far as I know, they never found out.   Unfortunately, that meant that I never got the chance to say goodbye to my dear old friend.

Goodbye, my friend.

 

May 26, 2010

Shut up, Doctor Carhart!

Posted by Pat Richards under Abortion, 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: , , , |
[15] Comments 

One of my dearest friends in the world is Doctor Leroy Carhart.  Doctor Carhart is a physician who performs abortions in the tiny hamlet of Bellevue, Nebraska.   He has been doing abortions for decades – and, I should add, he has been doing late term abortions over those years.  In the last ten years or so, he became an outspoken advocate for abortion rights and, in fact, years ago he challenged the “Partial Birth Abortion Act,” a case that ultimately made it all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.

In addition to working in Nebraska, for years Doctor Carhart had been traveling to Wichita, Kansas where he helped out Doctor George Tiller, a specialist in very late term abortions.  As we all know by now, Doctor Tiller was murdered almost one year ago and soon thereafter, his clinic – his beautiful clinic – was shut down.

But Lee Carhart came to the rescue.   Within hours of the murder, he was proudly announcing to the media that he would take over the late term abortion doctor mantle in order to help all of those women who normally would have gone to Doctor Tiller.  He was all over the media, he started giving more speeches, and he pumped up his website.  For good reason, he was applauded for his courage and his loyalty to his dear, departed friend.

A few weeks after Doctor Tiller’s murder, I caught up with Lee at a memorial service in Washington, D.C.  He shared some wonderful thoughts with the crowd and afterwards I was escorted to a private room to see him.  It had been years, so we had a good hug, a few tears were shed and then I looked him directly in the eye and said “Lee, shut the hell up.”

He was incredulous.  For years, working through the National Coalition of Abortion Providers, I encouraged him (and his colleagues) to speak openly about what he did, to no longer hide in the shadows anymore.   My argument was that if abortion doctors were open about what they did and talked honestly about their work, then it would prevent the anti-abortion movement from filling in the information gap with their own distorted interpretation of things.  So, Lee started talking – and talking and talking.  Ultimately, he became one of our leading spokesmen.

But now I was telling him to shut up.

“Lee,” I said as I put my hands on his shoulders, “you now have a lot of patients that are relying on you.  You need to be here for them.  But when you go on television, you’re making yourself a target for some nut ball out there who might get the notion of taking out the next George Tiller.”

He was a little stunned at first and, as he often does, he started mumbling about how he understood what I was saying but….

“But what?” I screamed.  “You’ve got an obligation to thousands of women and to George Tiller.  You need to be there every day for your patients.   You cannot go around making speeches everywhere, walking through crowds.  You’re gonna get yourself shot, Lee, and I don’t want to have to come to another memorial service.”

He listened but I don’t think he heard me.

And yesterday I saw an announcement that he will be speaking at the national conference for the National Organization for Women in Boston in a few weeks.

Oh well…..Go get ’em, Lee.

 

May 25, 2010

The Judge Allows an 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 Pill, Abortion Rates, Abortion Rights | Tags: , , , , , , , |
[21] Comments 

A few days ago, a judge in Omaha, Nebraska gave permission to a 17 year old girl to have an abortion.  Not sure why it was a story, but…

For many years, the United States Supreme Court has said that states can require minors to get the permission of their parents or at least notify them before getting an abortion.    I have argued in previous blogs against these laws.  However, the Supreme Court also said that, if the state enacts these laws, then they also have to give the minor the option of getting permission from a judge.  And that’s what happened in this case.

The Supreme Court made it sound so very simple.  Well, little girl, if you really cannot talk to your parents, then all you have to do is go to a judge.

Let’s think about this for a second.

Take your average 14 year old girl.  She – unfortunately – gets pregnant.  I’m not going to get into chastising her, feeling sorry for her or whatever.  The fact is that she is pregnant and she does not want to have the child.  Sounds pretty responsible to me (yes, I know she was “irresponsible” to begin with, but…).    The problem is that her parents are pretty strict.  No, let’s say they are extremely religious and the girl knows that if she tells them she is pregnant, they’ll practically kill her.  She would ruin everything for her parents.  Now, if you are anti-abortion person please don’t give me that crap that the girl should go to her parents anyway and they’ll work it out.  In real life, unfortunately, every family is not perfect.

So, the girl has determined that she wants an abortion but cannot go to her parents.  But, wait, there’s an easy alternative!   You just have to go to a judge!

So, the young girl decides to pursue that option.  Well, how does a 14 year old girl find a judge?  In fact, as I think about that scenario, I frankly haven’t the foggiest idea how you would get that process started.  And I’m not a 14 year old girl or one of her friends.  Where do you find a judge?  Are there special judges for abortion cases?  What would be your Google search terms?

Ultimately, you might get lucky and discover that several pro-choice groups have lawyers that help women through this difficult process.  So, you talk to someone and they say they’ll help.

The girl then has to sit down with the pro-choice attorney and probably some other staff to discuss her situation.  She has to be prepared to talk about why she cannot go to her parents.  Think of how embarrassing this process is for her, even when she is in friendly territory.

Then, she finally has to go to court.  Have you ever been in court?  Did you not feel intimidated by the whole process?   Now, think about the 14 year old girl, going downtown to the big, marbled courthouse with hundreds of people running around in suits.  Think about walking into the cavernous courtroom, sitting there with the bailiff, the court reporter and possibly others waiting silently for the judge to come in.  The judge sits down and calls your case.  Think about the young girl walking up to the bench and having to talk about how she is mature enough to get the abortion.   That requirement always killed me:   the girl has to prove that she is mature enough to have the abortion but if the judge determines she is not mature enough, then the assumption is that she is “mature” enough to have the baby.

It’s always easy for some legislator in some state to get up and pontificate on what the law should be.  In this case, it’s easy to argue about this “judicial bypass” requirement as if it is such an easy thing for a young woman to do.

Get real, will ya?

 

May 24, 2010

Abortion and Death

Posted by Pat Richards under Abortion, Abortion & Religion, Abortion Advocates, Abortion Candidates, Abortion Doctor, Abortion Heroes, Abortion Information, Abortion Pill, Cannot Support Opinion, Dr. Tiller, morning after pill | Tags: , , , , , |
[8] Comments 

Anti-abortion advocates often suggest that many women die each year at abortion clinics, giving them yet another bullet point for their “fact sheet” outlining their reasons for opposing abortion.   I don’t know where they get their “facts,” but let’s discuss this issue for a minute.

It is well documented that hundreds and maybe thousands of women died of illegal or self-induced abortions in the years before abortion became legal in this country.  Whether abortion is legal or not, it is axiomatic that women at times feel it is absolutely necessary to abort and, in the days before Roe v. Wade, they would resort to some outrageous methods of terminating their pregnancy.  The woman would first do some very quiet research, looking for a doctor who was willing to perform the illegal abortion.  Oftentimes, if they found one, that doctor would not be reputable yet many women still had the so-called “back alley abortion.”  The emergency rooms were filled with women who were seriously harmed by these fly by nighters.  Many of those women never made it to the emergency room.

To digress for a moment, I always wondered why the pro-choice movement did not resort to more graphic arguments by showing pictures of women lying in pools of blood after an illegal abortion?  Pictures are indeed worth a thousand words and I fear that the younger generations are losing the perspective of the days of illegal abortions.

If the woman could not find a doctor, there were some women out there who would perform abortions.  While they were better intentioned and certainly more sensitive to the woman’s needs, they were not trained medical personnel so they had their share of botched abortions.

If the women could find no one to do it, they may have actually performed an abortion on themselves.  One of the everlasting political symbols of the pro-choice movement is the coat hanger, a device that many women used to abort their pregnancy.  Or, they would concoct some solution and drink it, thinking it would kill the fetus.  The horror stories are well documented, although many pro-lifers suggest that they’re made up.

Today, when a woman dies of an abortion it makes headlines in the local papers.  I guess that really is the good news, i.e., that it is so rare that it becomes a story for the press.  I haven’t looked at the statistics lately, but when I was involved in the movement there were maybe 2 deaths a year.  And, for the most part, the deaths were not related to the actual abortion procedure but to something ancillary, like the anesthesia.   But when there is a death, it casts a pall on the entire field of abortion providers.

One morning in June, 1996, I got a call from a clinic director who was in tears.  When she finally gained her composure, she told me that a patient at her clinic had died on the surgery table early that morning.  She had died of an embolism, something that no one could have predicted.  Later investigations determined that the clinic and doctor were not responsible.  But to this day, I’ll never forget the mass depression that spread throughout the universe of abortion providers.  Her staff was barraged with emails, telephone calls and letters, urging them to keep moving forward.  The point is the death was so unusual that it evoked an incredible nationwide reaction amongst her peers.

When a woman enters a clinic – any medical clinic – and has surgery, there is a chance she can die.

Prior to the legalization of abortion, however, the chances of dying were much, much higher….

 

May 21, 2010

The Abortion Pill Did Not Change Society

Posted by Pat Richards under Abortion
[8] Comments 

In the early 1990’s, I was part of a movement that was trying to get the “abortion pill,” otherwise known as RU-486, into the country.  Ultimately, that effort was successful. 

Immediately, the pro-choice movement heralded the introduction of the pill.   In a New York Times piece, one leader predicted “great social change” in this country.  She argued that doctors across the country who had never performed surgical abortions would suddenly start dispensing the pill, making abortion services even more accessible to women. 

From the beginning, however, other pro-choice advocates, particularly those who actually worked in the clinics, warned their colleagues not to hype the product too much.  They argued that a doctor who was not performing surgical abortions would not just jump into the “abortion wars” and start dispensing the pill.  After all, they reasoned, if you want to take the leap into the world of abortion, even it’s just the pill, then you have to be ready for everything that comes with the provision of abortion services, including the specter of violence.  After all, why would a little ole doctor in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, a doctor who had never performed surgical abortions, suddenly get up and decide to offer the pill?   If he or she was looking at this as a way to supplement their income, then they would have to let people know that they offered the product, which probably meant taking an ad in the Yellow Pages.  And once you’re in the Yellow Pages under “Abortion Services,” you are suddenly a target.  There was also the issue of staff in that you’d have to get all of them to agree to suddenly start providing abortions.  You’d have to start thinking about security, insurance, hiring trained counselors, etc., etc.   

Well, those folks were right.  To this day, a number of women use the pill but the numbers have not gone up astronomically like some predicted.  And the pill has certainly not supplanted surgical abortions.  Also, those new doctors never did come out of the woodwork. 

 I grow weary of blaring press releases and unrelenting hype.  The feminist groups fought to get the abortion pill on the market for good reason, but they exaggerated its impact.  That’s because they really didn’t talk to the clinics, those who were in the trenches on a daily basis. 

Today, the abortion pill is being used but it has not been a substitute for surgical abortion.  One reason is that it’s not just a matter of popping one pill.  It’s really several pills over several days.  The cost is also higher than a surgical abortion.  And some women did not react well when told that when they took the pill, they would be expelling the pregnancy into a toilet.   Clinics still report that women are calling in the middle of the night “freaking out” at the blood and the sight of what ultimately might have been their baby.

The pill is a good option for some. 

It didn’t change society…

 

May 20, 2010

Sylvia

Posted by Pat Richards under Abortion
[5] Comments 

In the early 1990’s, I joined the staff of the National Coalition of Abortion Providers, an organization that represented the interests of independent abortion clinics across the country.  Since I was going to represent them in some way, I felt it was important to visit a sampling of the clinics to see how they operate, to get a feel for the work they were doing and the women they served.

One of my first stops was at a clinic in Little Rock, Arkansas.  I spent the first few minutes with the doctor, who after getting comfortable with me actually offered me a joint.   I deferred.  Then, the administrator of the clinic took me on a tour of the building.  As I was touring, there were about 20 patients in the waiting room, presumably there for abortions.  It hit me that it would be helpful to talk to some of them, if they were willing.   I asked the administrator and she immediately said:  “You gotta talk to Sylvia.”  

Sylvia was there for her sixth abortion at the clinic.  Yep, her sixth.  I was horrified – and the administrator could tell by my very judgmental reaction.  But then she said “If you’re gonna represent us in Washington, D.C., you need to be ready to defend women like Sylvia.” I gulped and said okay.  Within 30 minutes, I was in a room alone with Sylvia.

I explained to her who I was and said “Please don’t take this the wrong way, but I need to know where you are coming from.  The anti-abortion people always talk about women using abortion as birth control, so I need to know why you keep coming back here.”  

She was very cool, with a beehive hair due, dark red lipstick, constantly chewing gum.  A real “sassy broad,” as my father might have said.

“Okay,” she started, “the first time I got pregnant the condom broke.  The second time, my boyfriend said that he’d kill me if I made him use a condom.   The third time, I was totally drunk, had no idea what was going on.  Finally, I got on birth control pills but there was one month there when I couldn’t afford the pills and, wham, I’m pregnant again.  The fifth time, well, I just don’t remember.  And this time I was just relying on Lady’s Luck.”

“What is Lady’s Luck,” I asked.  

“That’s just when you hope you get lucky and not get pregnant.  Pretty stupid, huh?” 

As you can probably tell, she was not an educated woman.  She worked in a local convenience store, had two kids already, one autistic.  She lived for the weekend.  You get the picture. 

I tried to get mad at her.  After all, she was my worst public relations nightmare.  But ultimately I decided I simply had to accept what she was saying.  I mean, this was her life and she had made a lot of mistakes.   Sure, I wish she didn’t have to have six abortions but I came out of that meeting thinking “Who am I to judge?”     

Later, I accompanied her into the surgery room and, during the procedure, she started to sob a little.  The nurse, who was holding her hand, asked her if she wanted to stop the abortion.  She stiffened up and said “No, I am not the kind of person who should be having any more kids.”

 

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