Abortion – Abortion Clinics, Abortion Pill, Abortion Information

Yesterday I talked about the murder of Doctor David Gunn on March 10, 1993.  As I mentioned, after his shocking death his colleagues were denied the opportunity to go to his funeral because of a violent snowstorm in Tennessee.   So, abortion providers all over the country, who were in mourning over the incident, were not able to get together with their comrades for that “group hug” that they so desperately needed. 

Months later, members of the National Coalition of Abortion Providers started talking about how they would commemorate the one year anniversary of Doctor Gunn’s death.  An idea started to form that ultimately almost cost all of them their lives.   

It was suggested that the members of the organization actually go to Pensacola for some kind of tribute at the site where Doctor Gunn was killed.   NCAP staff flew to Pensacola and at the site found a lovely, open air amphitheater right across the street from the clinic.  They reported that it would be perfect for such an event.  So, NCAP announced that they would host a tribute to Doctor Gunn that would feature his son, David Gunn, Jr.  From the beginning, a number of NCAP members expressed their concern for their safety.  After all, not only had Doctor Gunn been murdered there just a few months earlier, but Pensacola had also been the scene of several abortion clinic bombings in years past. 

Still, most of the members of NCAP made the trip and on March 10, 1994, approximately 100 abortion doctors and clinic staff left their hotel, got into two buses and drove out to the site of Doctor Gunn’s murder.   Security was hired to cover the event but that didn’t assuage the participants, who were still visibly nervous.  They just didn’t know what to expect when they got out there.  Surprisingly, there was only one protestor at the site – Mr. Paul Hill.  This was the same Paul Hill who, months earlier on “The Donohue Show,” declared that it was “justifiable homicide” to kill an abortion doctor.  Interestingly, throughout the entire ceremony, Hill was quiet.  He just walked back and forth as he held up a sign saying “Execute Abortionists.” 

For the next hour, about 100 NCAP members sat down on the steps of the amphitheater and listened with great emotion to the speeches.  They gasped when a letter from President Bill Clinton was read, congratulating them on their courage.  Then, they walked silently across the street to the clinic and laid flowers at the spot where Doctor Gunn’s body was found.   The tears were unrelenting.

Little did they know that they had all narrowly avoided being the target of a massacre by an anti-abortion zealot.

It seems that a few days earlier, a man named Daniel Ware had boarded a bus in Houston carrying several bags of guns and hand grenades.   When he got to Pensacola, he told a local anti-abortion activist that he was planning on “wiping out” everyone at the scene of the Gunn tribute.   After all, despite a few security people around, the participants were sitting ducks. 

Fortunately, that anti-abortion person contacted the local police about Ware’s plot.  For some reason, the police did not arrest Mr. Ware.  Instead, they simply put him back on the bus to Houston.  I have no idea what happened to him after that.  

Then, just a few months later, the same Paul Hill killed Doctor Baird Britton and his escort as they entered the parking lot at a different clinic in Pensacola.  Another close call avoided.

In a short while, the pro-choice movement will commemorate the one year anniversary of the murder of Doctor George Tiller.  So many words have been written about this wonderful man who was gunned down at his church, so I cannot contribute anything else that hasn’t been said already. 

But as we approach that day, I am reminded of the day when the murders began.  I am reminded of the murder of Doctor David Gunn, the first abortion doctor who was assassinated for what he did.  I think it’s important to remember that day as well. 

I was working at a national pro-choice organization for about three years when I got the call at 11:45 a.m. on March 10, 1993.  The woman at the end of the line was hysterical as she told me that David had been killed as he was entering his clinic in Pensacola, Florida.  I didn’t know David, but I had heard about him from Susan Hill, a woman who owned several clinics, including one that David regularly worked at.  Susan had told me weeks before that her doctors were getting nervous about the increased anti-abortion activity outside of the clinics.  Then she told me about one of her doctors, David Gunn, and how he was so concerned about his safety that he started carrying guns with him as he travelled every day from clinic to clinic.  He also told her that he had a “boom box” and loved to play “I Won’t Back Down” by Tom Petty in front of the protestors that he faced regularly.  I wonder now if he had pushed it too far.     

The facts are well known by now:  he was killed instantly by an anti-abortion zealot named Michael Griffin, shot in the back as he got out of his car.  Griffin did not flee and was arrested immediately.  Ultimately, he was sentenced to life in prison. 

Doctor Gunn’s murder created a national firestorm.  The story was headline news everywhere.  Unfortunately, over the years, as more doctors were killed, those stories got less attention.  But this story was hot for days on end.  At my office, we were flooded with calls from fellow abortion providers, most of whom did not know David Gunn, who were asking about how to buy bullet proof vests, how to install security measures at their clinics, how to avoid the stalking.    

Over the next few weeks, a number of abortion doctors quit their jobs.  They felt – understandably – that this would not be the first murder, that this incident would incite a wave of violence against abortion providers.  So, without much fanfare, they quietly informed us that they were leaving the field.  On the other hand, of course, there were the “warriors” who were ready to do battle and who armed themselves to the teeth. 

Out of this nightmare emerged a quiet hero – David Gunn, Jr.  David was an unlikely hero.  He had a stutter, he had hair almost to his waste and he had never spoken publicly.  But he had accompanied his father on some of his trips throughout the south and could see the hatred that was growing.  Immediately, David took up the banner for his father and started appearing on a number of national shows.  I’ll never forget his appearance on “The Donohue Show” about a week later as he sat on the stage with Mr. Paul Hill who told the audience point blank that it was “justifiable homicide” to kill a doctor who performed abortions.  David was firm, probably totally puzzled , and polite as always.  He did his father proud.

Unfortunately, the funeral of David Gunn was held in Tennessee during a terrible snowstorm so most of Doctor Gunn’s colleagues could not attend and get that big “group hug” that they all needed so desperately.  A year later, however, the National Coalition of Abortion Providers held a memorial at the site of David’s death.  And the 100 or so attendees barely escaped being massacred.  More on that in a future post.

A few days ago, I wrote about the doctors who perform abortions.  Who are they?  What kind of degrees do they have?  What do they do inside the clinic?  That got me to thinking a little bit more about the other folks who run abortion clinics and so, in my never ending quest to educate the public on the provision of abortion services, I thought I would talk a little bit about the owners of the clinics. 

As one who had been in the field for many years, I will admit right up front that most of the early owners of the clinics around the country were a mysterious lot.  That’s probably because they never advertised who they were and where they lived.  They rarely gave interviews.  Indeed, in the early years, whenever I asked who owned a particular clinic, the staff people would be very secretive.  Over the years, however, that veil of secrecy started to break down to some extent.

For the most part, in the days right after abortion became legal, it was mostly men who owned the clinics.   While there may have been some altruism behind their setting up clinics, they were businessmen through and through.  Once abortion was legalized, they just went into certain, hospitable states and starting setting up their clinics.  Many of them established chains of abortion clinics.   One of the earliest and, ultimately, largest chain of clinics was established by Doctor Edward Allred in southern California.   At one point, he had a little over 20 clinics known as Family Planning Associates.  Doctor Allred, in addition to having these clinics, was also one of the biggest breeders of horses in the country and owned a racetrack in Los Angeles.  He was rarely seen and made a few controversial statements in his time, but I will say he had some of the most beautiful clinics in the country.   

These owners made millions of dollars because they had the few clinics that were operating and there was an incredible demand for the services.  But because they were somewhat “mysterious,” an image of them started to develop that was not too flattering.  Over the years, however, they started to “come out” a little.  Not sure why that happened but I do know that when I started visiting them when I traveled, for the most part I found that they were your average businessman who was just trying to make a living.  I also found, however, that they were somewhat dedicated to making abortion accessible to women and were not as cutthroat as I imagined they might be.  Oh, sure, I met some sleazeballs but, for the most part, they were just average people. 

Yes, there were some female owners in those days.  One woman, Merle Hoffman, founded “Choices” in Queens, New York, which ultimately became one of the largest abortion clinics in the country.  Merle continues to work at the clinic today.  There were also wonderful women like Renee Chelian, the owner of the Northland Family Planning Centers in Detroit, and Claire Keyes in Pittsburgh.  These women, understandably, had a slightly different approach to the provision of abortion services. 

There is also a group of clinics that technically have no owners.   They are the non-profit clinics.  For years, there was a chain of such clinics called the Feminist Women Health Centers, but they ultimately changed their name.   These clinics were run by a Board of Directors.  The Planned Parenthood clinics are all non-profits.

Today, as in any field, there is a new group of younger owners who are taking the mantle.  And most of them are women.  While I appreciate the male pioneers who stuck their necks out and established the first clinics, it’s comforting to me that there are more and more young women who are now leading the charge.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

President Obama has just nominated Elena Kagan to be the next justice on the U.S. Supreme Court and the proverbial poop is already hitting the fan.  Aside from the usual Republican “just say no” mantra, it seems that some pro-choice groups are a little nervous about her.   That’s because in 1997, she co-authored a memo to President Clinton that recommended he sign legislation that would have banned the “partial birth abortion” procedure.   If it were me, I would have advised the same thing.

As originally drafted, the “Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act” would have outlawed that procedure in all cases except when the woman’s life was endangered.   From the beginning, however, there were a number of pro-choice Senators who were very concerned about the political impact of this bill and they knew that the longer the discussion went on about this procedure, the more support they would lose amongst the general public.  After all, who the hell could defend this gruesome procedure?

So, looking for a way out, Senator Tom Daschle of South Dakota floated a “compromise.”   He suggested that the Congress not only ban that particular procedure but ban ALL third trimester abortions.  The catch was he left an exception for when the woman’s life and health was endangered.   That “health” exception, however, always raises a red flag for the anti-abortion crowd because they allege that that exception can be stretched in many ways.  Indeed, one late term abortion doctor was quoted during this time as saying he would certify the “health” exception in every case presented to him.  Yeah, that one really helped! 

Still, Daschle and others floated this idea, arguing that their proposal would not just ban the notorious partial birth abortion but any other late term abortion procedures.  And that’s when Kagan chimed in and suggested that President Clinton support that approach.   

In retrospect, that was good advice.  The fact is that when the “Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act” was introduced, the pro-choice groups were caught with their pants down.  They found it difficult to defend the procedure so they came up with a lame defense that it wasn’t used very often, a defense that ultimately blew up in their face.  Meanwhile, the polls showed that the vast majority of Americans opposed any late term abortions.  Recognizing the great place they were in, anti-abortion legislators gave speech after speech every day describing the lurid details of the procedure.  I was in the middle of that debate and I swear that the antis orchestrated the speeches to begin at 5:30 p.m. every day so channel surfers waiting for dinner could see the gross pictures depicting the procedure.   

It was a brilliant strategy from a public relations point of view.  And the irony was that the anti-abortion movement knew that if the bill ultimately became law, it would not have stopped one abortion.  Even certain anti-abortion leaders publicly acknowledged the same. What was important to them was that the issue not go away.  If the bill were signed into law, the issue would be gone.  

During that time, a one pro-choice voice argued that the movement should let this legislation pass without a fight.  Let everyone vote for it, don’t fight it, let it become law, no doctor would be affected and the issue would have disappeared.  Instead, the pro-choice movement fought the bill with disastrous consequences. 

Ultimately, the anti-abortion movement would not accept the Daschle compromise because, well, they just did not want to compromise.  And the pro-choice movement opposed him.  But Kagan was smart enough to realize what was going on and gave him some good political advice.   The pro-choice groups should not hold that against her.

Recently, a pro-lifer wrote to me to suggest that women who have abortions are run “through the mill” without any counseling and, if they do get some, the counselors try their darndest to persuade the woman to have the abortion. 

Let’s put aside for a minute the small percentage of sleaze balls out there who are in the field to only make money.   They’re out there and there ain’t nothing I can do about it.  Indeed, I know this for a fact because years ago I publicly criticized an abortion doctor in Pennsylvania, warning women not to go to him.  The next day, I got a letter from his attorney advising me to “cease and desist” from such criticism. Not making much money at the time, I heeded the advice.

Anyway, every abortion clinic is different and has its own way of approaching things, but the average  clinic has two or three counselors.  After the woman fills out her paperwork, she meets with the counselor to discuss a number of issues.  Some clinics subscribe to what is known as the “Head and Heart Counseling” method where the counselor delves very deeply into the woman’s thought process to try to determine if, in fact, she is ready for an abortion.  There is even a “homework” booklet that was produced years ago that the counselor could give to the woman if she was unsure of her decision.  The woman would take the booklet home, answers a bunch of questions, then come back to the clinic.  In the abortion industry, the joke was that at times it was almost impossible to get an abortion in one of these clinics. 

The average counselor will talk to the woman about her options.  They will ask about what kind of birth control, if any, they were using and what kind they might want to use in the future, the goal being that they never want to see that woman again in their clinic.  If the patient decides to use birth control pills, the clinic will usually give her three free months of pills to get her going. 

The last thing a clinic wants is to have a woman surface years later and complain that she was not counseled well enough, that she didn’t know her options.   The clinic does not want a woman ultimately regretting her abortion and one way to avoid that is to counsel her.  Of course, the system is not perfect. 

Indeed, there are a handful of clinics that find personal counseling insulting.  They suggest that women know what they are doing, that it is demeaning to ask a woman if she has really thought through her decision.  And there are women who resent the counselors even asking them such questions. 

Because every woman is different, there is no cookie cutter counseling experience.  And I would suggest that’s exactly how it should be.

Mother’s Day…

I am not sure where I want to go with this one.  

I guess my first thought is to wish all of the mothers out there a Happy Mother’s Day.  My mother died years ago and, honestly, I didn’t care for her.  Check that – I hated her.  She was an alcoholic, abusive, you name it.   Several years after she died, however, I learned from my father that she had had electric shock treatment at a local institution and that made me look at her, posthumously, in a different light.  Okay, enough of my personal stuff.

Since this blog deals with abortion, my second thought is about those women out there who chose to abort their unwanted pregnancy.  Yes, some of them may have gone on to have other kids but I’m sure there are some out there who didn’t and yesterday they may have thought about the child that might have been.  It’s a sad situation and I feel for those who felt that an abortion was the necessary decision at the time. 

What bothers me, however, is that on some abortion-related websites a number of anti-abortion types took the occasion to post mean-spirited messages.  “Hope you take today to remember the child you killed,” said one.  “You could have been celebrating with your child today if you didn’t abort,” said another.   

To this day, I really do not understand how some who oppose abortion can be so mean to these women who made the (sad) decision to abort their child.  Why do they take out their knives, stick it in and twist it a few times?  They seem to have so much compassion and so many feelings for the fetus but when it comes to the women they can get downright mean.  Sometimes I really think they are getting off on being so mean.  I picture them going to church yesterday, then running home to their computer, getting on some Facebook page and writing nasty stuff to women who aborted.  

No doubt that some of it is a simple hatred of women.  Some of it is machismo, the desire to command and dominate women.   And, yes, some of it is the myopic love of that fetus.  They will fawn all over that fetus and strive to protect it, all the way to the point where it’s born.   But then, it’s adios amigas. 

Maybe they are just part of the larger trend in this country, which almost rewards being mean.  Just look at the Tea Party crap.  Yesterday, they engineered the defeat of a long-time Senator in Utah and one of the participants said he supported that effort because, during that Senator’s welcome speech, he “didn’t mention the Constitution.”   Are you kidding me?   You voted against him because he didn’t mention something?   I assume he didn’t mention cancer research either.  Does that mean the Senator supports cancer?   Maybe that’s not being mean.  Maybe it’s being down right stupid.  But in some ways I have to believe that the element within the anti-abortion movement that is mean-spirited was the forerunner of the Tea Party.

I met someone at a dinner party the other night and she asked me if I was married.  I said I had been married for almost twenty five years. 

“Who’s winning?” was her response.

It’s been decades since the Roe v Wade decision was handed down.  Since then, we’ve had years and years of constant warfare (literally, at times), never-ending debates, marches to the Supreme Court, battles on Capitol Hill.  It is exhausting to think about all the time and energy that has been put into this one issue. 

So, who’s winning?

Well, it’s hard to say.

The pro-life movement has clearly failed to accomplish their ultimate goal:  to make abortion illegal in this country.   In the early 1980’s, they tried to pass a constitutional amendment banning abortion and failed miserably.  Since then, legislation has been introduced every Congress  declaring that life begins at conception but in all of those years not only have those bills not been voted on, they’ve only been the subject of one congressional hearing.  Even when Congressman Henry Hyde, one of the staunchest pro-life leaders in the Congress, was chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, he never pushed any measure outlawing abortion because he knew he simply did not have the votes.   At the same time, however, pro-lifers have successfully prohibited the use of federal funds for abortions, but at the same time, pro-choicers were able to enact the “Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act” in the 1990’s.

In some states, pro-lifers have successfully passed laws restricting access to abortion services (e.g., parental consent laws, twenty four hour waiting periods).  But it’s really hard to say what kind of impact these laws have had on the availability of abortion services.  On the other hand, in some states and cities, pro-choice groups have passed laws protecting clinics by erecting “bubble zones.”    

As far as the Supreme Court, they’ve been all over the place.  The majority still tenuously supports Roe v Wade, but they outlawed the “partial birth abortion” procedure and gave the states the right to enact certain restrictions on access to abortion.    

So, where the hell does that leave us? 

Polls show that the majority of Americans support abortion rights but they are also uncomfortable with the abortion procedure.  They also do not want abortion to be used casually.  Still, polls can be sketchy and, depending on how you ask the question, you can usually make a poll come out the way you want. 

I think both sides agree that we want to reduce the number of abortions.  And, over the last decade or so, the number of abortions has actually decreased.  Now, I can’t say why this has happened.  Maybe that is fodder for a future blog. 

 But, if reducing the number of abortions is a common goal, then both sides are winning.

In a number of states, pro-life advocates are pushing for more regulations of abortion clinics. Their arguments make it sound like these clinics are running amok, that they do whatever they want free from any governmental interference. 

While they argue that they are merely insuring that the clinics are safe, these proposal are really designed to impose regulatory burdens on the clinic to the point where they simply cannot afford to remain open.   A few years ago, in the state of South Carolina, they passed a series of new rules that ultimately shut down two clinics. 

First of all, I find it ironic that opponents of abortion want to impose regulations on facilities that they are committed to closing down.   They are arguing that medical facilities that KILL BABIES need to be better regulated.  Does anyone else see the hypocrisy in that?  

Second, what the pro-life movement does not understand is that these clinics are already regulated by the state and federal government.  These clinics have to deal with OSHA, CLIA, HIPPA, and a lot of other acronyms – just like any other medical facility.    They have to deal with the Drug Enforcement Administration all the time.  They are subject to regular inspections.  Indeed, in the state of New York it is almost impossible to open up a new clinic anymore because of the stringent regulations.  So, let’s dismiss the notion that the abortion providers are running a medical facility free from any state or federal oversight. 

Third, over the years abortion providers have been very clear that they would be amenable to any other additional regulations if they were well thought out and not designed to just impose another burden on them.  They, like any other medical practice, want to avoid lawsuits, right?  So, if someone has a good idea, something that is actual constructive, they’d be open to that conversation.

Fourth, I find it interesting when pro-lifers make suggestions about the clinics when most of them have never even been inside of one!   I mean, it’s not like they took a tour, talked to the staff and used that experience to make some constructive suggestions.   No, they just assume that the clinics need more regulations.   Interesting.

Don’t give us any crap.  Just tell us you want to regulate the clinics to death.  I’d have more respect for you if you took that approach.

At this very moment, I am sitting in a large classroom proctoring an exam for about 80 seniors at a high school in Northern Virginia.   This test is given to students in the International Baccalaureate program, a program designed to challenge the best students in this high school.  The kids sitting in front of me at their desks are the cream of the crop.  Starting next fall, they will be going to prestigious colleges, preparing to be our future leaders.  They’ve got their whole lives in front of them.   

About half of the kids in this class are girls.  If the statistics hold true, however, a few of the girls in this group will soon get pregnant.  Yes, a very small percentage might actually elect to become pregnant but most of them will simply wind up having made a mistake.   How can this happen, you say?   Well, while most of the girls in this group in front of me are very smart young women, there are temptations waiting for them when they leave home and go up to Yale or the University of Virginia.  When they arrive, unshackled, they will be subject to numerous temptations.   They will be wooed by the sororities, suddenly exposed to drinking parties, they will start dating.  They may think they have fallen in love for the first time and, one night, they may exhibit those feelings in a sexual way.

Now, with a group like this you would assume that they would be smart about their sexual experience.  But even smart people can make mistakes.  In a moment of passion with their first love, perhaps emboldened by that alcoholic beverage they have been thinking about having for many years, they make love and forget or refuse to use protection.   Dumb, absolutely dumb.  But it happens. 

The next morning, the young couple realizes what they did and they both panic.  Now, if they are thinking clearly they could go to a doctor and get a prescription for the morning after pill.  But that’s assuming they know about its availability.  And, if they do know about it and get the prescription, when they go to the pharmacist he or she might be one of those pharmacists that refuses to dispense the morning after pill for moral reasons.  Discouraged, the young couple might just give up and start praying. 

A few weeks later, a few agonizing weeks later, the young girl misses her period.  She takes a pregnancy test and confirms she is pregnant.  She is now in a total state of panic.  She calls the young man and he is in denial, he wants absolutely nothing to do with this young woman who he just met a few weeks ago.   She cannot call her parents, they just would not understand.  She spends several sleepless nights envisioning becoming more and more pregnant.  She then starts wondering about leaving school and giving up her dreams of becoming a civil engineer.  She wonders what kind of job she’ll be able to get while raising her child.  Where will she live?  Who will take care of the child when she is sick?  What will happen to my life?

And the pro-life response to this girl?

Too bad, you made a mistake, you have to live with the consequences.