Abortion

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April 7, 2013

Anti-Abortion Hypocrites

Posted by Pat Richards under Abortion, Abortion Information | Tags: |
[45] Comments 
Abortion

Abortion

I am a C-Span junkie.   I keep the channel on in my office all the time and every once in a while I hear the “A” word.   That’s when I grab the remote and increase the volume.  More often than not, it’s some Member of Congress talking about abortion and, in particular, the “horrors” of abortion.  They stand there in the well of the House of Representatives, all spiffed up in their $700 suits and chastise the thousands of women who are “killing their babies” every day.  They get themselves all worked up to the point where they barely contain themselves from calling these women “whores.”

But there’s more than meets the eye here in the nation’s capital.

The other day I had lunch with an old friend who runs an abortion facility in Washington, D.C.    She’s very political, keeps track of congressional voting records and so we started talking about the latest legislative efforts on Capitol Hill to restrict access to abortion.

“What a bunch of hypocrites,” she said.  I asked her what she meant.  She chuckled and replied “we see them in here all the time.”

Intrigued, I asked her to elaborate.

Abortion

Abortion

“Anti-abortion Members of Congress and the Senate come here all the time.  They’ll set up private appointments and bring in their wife, their girlfriend, a niece, you name it.  They’ll pay extra money to use the clinic when it’s closed to other patients.  They’ll come here and procure the abortion, then weeks later I’ll see them on television making some kind of speech about how people like me should be put out of business.”

I had heard rumors about this before but never heard a confirmation.   Of course I was intrigued as to whom these elected officials were but, as she pointed out, she was prohibited from naming any names.  I could tell she was dying to blurt out a name or two but, to her credit, she remained silent.  She just shook her head and said “hypocrites.”

I’ve often wondered what it would be like if on one day every administrator of every clinic in the country just came out and named names.  Not just anti-abortion Members of Congress but members of the state legislatures, governors, White House officials.  We know they’re out there, we know they are harboring their little secret yet they do not hesitate to criticize OTHER women who have obtained abortions.

But the more I think about it, the more I realize that if they were exposed probably not much would happen.   The anti-abortion politician would admit his complicity in this “truly unique situation” and would tell us how he and his wife/mistress/daughter had prayed to God for guidance before making the difficult decision.  Then he would share with us how he has since asked the Lord for forgiveness (and received it), his constituents for the most part would applaud his courage and then would forgive him at the polls.  For about a year or so he would be conspicuously silent during the public debate on abortion but would still continue to vote against abortion any time he could.  Then one day he would reappear on the floor of the House to make the same old speech about “those women” who have had abortions.

So, we probably wouldn’t get anywhere but wouldn’t it be a lot of fun to reveal these hypocrites?

Hmmmmmm…..What if every doctor who has ever provided an abortion for one of these culprits just put a list together and had it published once they died?

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March 31, 2013

Bad Abortion Doctors

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

I would be remiss if I did comment on the case of Doctor Kermit Gosnell.

As many of you know, Doctor Gosnell performed abortions in the Philadelphia area for many years.  Then, in late 2011, he was indicted for, among other things, eight counts of murder.  In addition, several of his staff people, including his wife and sister in law, were also charged with assisting in botched abortions, practicing medicine without a license or covering up the actions of those who did.  One of them, Adrienne Moton, has already pleaded guilty to third-degree murder as well as conspiracy and other charges and is in jail.  Other staff people have also pleaded guilty and have testified at the trial.

In all my years at the National Coalition of Abortion Providers, I never heard of Doctor Gosnell.  And I surely don’t know if he is innocent or guilty of the charges.  Of course, if you read the latest reports from the pro-life media, he is clearly guilty of running a “chamber of horrors” even though the defense has not even presented its case.  While some of the testimony that has been presented so far appears rather damaging, I choose to actually let the judicial process play out because – dare I say it – I do believe that one is innocent until proven guilty.  Unlike my pro-life friends, who eschew the protections in the Constitution, I’ll wait to see what the jury has to say.

But I will add that the testimony so far has been rather shocking and, if he is found guilty, they should lock him up and throw away the key.

This case has put the pro-choice groups in a quandary.  First, there were some reports that a staff person with the National Abortion Federation actually examined his facility and recommended that he not be permitted into the organization.  But after that, he continued to perform abortions.   Then, Brenda Green, executive director of CHOICE, a nonprofit that connects the underinsured and uninsured with health services, said that she “tried to report complaints from clients, but the health department wouldn’t accept them from a third party. Instead, the patients had to fill out a daunting five-page form, available only in English, requiring them to reveal their identities upfront and be available to testify in Harrisburg.”  He was like a cockroach who could not be stamped out.

Unfortunately, many women considering an abortion don’t even know how to check out the doctors.   They often just decide who to go to based on the cost of the procedure and, like other medical services, if you are looking for the cheapest price, you may pay for it in more ways than one.  NAF does have a section on their website which tells women what to look for when choosing a clinic but how many people even know about NAF?  So, it does not surprise me that some women made their way to Doctor Gosnell.

But the tougher question is what do the pro-choice groups do if they know there is a “troublesome” doctor?  It’s hard to make allegations if you do not have very specific information but the information has to come from the women and they don’t want to even admit they had an abortion.  To be sure, one hears rumors but one has to be extremely careful lest one get sued for slander.  Indeed, years ago I was quoted in the New York Times suggesting that women not go to a certain doctor with clinics up the east coast and within two days I had a “cease and desist” letter from his attorney threatening to sue our organization and me personally.  I can tell you that a threat like that certainly makes you think about criticizing someone publicly.

The bottom line – and it’s a tough one – is that women have to learn to expect more and they need to speak up when they experience substandard care in an abortion facility (or any other medical facility).  Then the authorities need to react quickly and with certainty.  For years, we talked to numerous health authorities about that doctor on the east coast and while he lost his license in one state, he kept opening up clinics in other states.  To be sure, the pro-lifers will say that clinics need more regulations and this may come as a surprise but many clinics are not adverse to discussing well-intentioned and useful regulations.  But they will not cooperate when those regulations are designed solely to put a clinic out of business.

One final note about this case.  If the allegations are true, Doctor Gosnell is an aberration amongst abortion providers.  The vast, vast majority of women obtain abortions in comfortable and safe environments but, unfortunately, the media would rather focus on Doctor Gosnell than those who are merely offering safe abortion services to hundreds and thousands of women each year.

 

March 24, 2013

Abortion and Gay Rights – A Lesson to be Learned

Posted by Pat Richards under Abortion, Abortion Information | Tags: |
[188] Comments 
Abortion

Abortion

A recent poll by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press suggests a dramatic change in support for same-sex marriage.  According to the poll, 28 percent of current supporters of gay marriage say they used to be opponents.  Ten years ago, only 34% of those polled said they supported gay marriage and today 49 percent say they support it!  There are also some dramatic changes in support for gun control measures (although, in the case of guns, increasing support has not necessarily translated into gun control legislation).

And then there is the issue of abortion where, depending on how you ask the question, support for abortion rights has not necessarily increased and, indeed, some polls suggest we may have lost a little ground over the years.

So, what’s the problem?  Why are we stuck after all of these years?

Abortion

Abortion

If you examine the general issue of gay rights, I think the answer is rather evident.  More and more gays are coming out.  They are telling their families, their friends and their neighbors.  They are marching, writing letters, chatting on websites and doing as much media as possible.   And this is affecting our elected officials, many of whom (including Obama) now openly court the gay vote.  The most recent example of a conversion is Senator Rob Portman, a staunch conservative form Ohio who recently changed his position on same-sex marriage because his son told him he was gay.  Support for gay rights is increasing because more and more people are coming to realize they know a gay person.

Abortion

Abortion

Meanwhile, a little over one million women each year have abortions and for the most part they remain silent.  To be sure, when the right to abortion is under attack they might participate in a march or letter writing campaign but, because they do not mention their own abortion, they appear to be fighting for the right of others to have an abortion.  They are one step removed and it’s a less powerful argument when it’s not personal.  To make matters worse, when someone finally admits to having an abortion, it seems that most of the time they’re now pro-life because they wound up “regretting” their decision.

This is a classic Catch-22.   Women are still very reluctant to talk about their abortions because of the stigma attached to the procedure.  But the stigma is very real because women will not talk about their abortions.  To be sure, there are some websites and blogs out there that urge women to share their experiences and let others know that they had the abortion and are “okay” today.   But it’s hard to find those sites, so these stories are not getting much attention from the general public.

We can only hope that one day all of this will change.  But before it does, before a woman “comes out” and talks about her abortion, she has to be able to get over the shame that society and, in particular, the pro-life movement, has imposed on her.  They have to be able to admit that they were pregnant and decided to not let that pregnancy grow.

That’s a tough leap to make.  And I’m not optimistic that we’ll ever see a large enough group of women willing to make it.

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March 17, 2013

Is the New Pope Different?

Posted by Pat Richards under Abortion, Abortion & Religion, Abortion Blog, Abortion Centers, Abortion Doctor, Abortion Information, Abortion Medical | Tags: , , , |
[30] Comments 
Abortion Pope

Abortion Pope

I suppose I would be remiss if I did not take this opportunity to comment on the new Pope, huh?

There’s lots of talk about him taking the Church in a “new” and “refreshing” direction because he seems kinda cool and he used to ride the bus in Argentina.   Well, don’t hold your breath folks.  Just because he has already abandoned some of the fancy Pope clothes doesn’t mean big changes are in the future.  Take, for example, the Church’s long held opposition to abortion (good segue, huh?).

On October 2, 2007 then-Cardinal Bergoglio told an audience that “we aren’t in agreement with the death penalty but in Argentina we have the death penalty – a child conceived by the rape of a mentally ill or retarded woman can be condemned to death.”  He went on to say that abortion was a “death sentence for unborn children.”  I can’t help but wonder what it must have been like for a woman sitting in that audience that day who had had an abortion.  Even though this occurred in Argentina where abortion is basically illegal, make no mistake that there was a woman there who had had an abortion and she was now forced to hear the Cardinal talk about how she gave the “death sentence” to her child.  Pretty harsh stuff.

Abortion Pope

Abortion Pope

So far, I have not heard Pope Francis say anything about abortion but rest assured that it’s coming soon.  Indeed, the pro-life news service, LifeNews.com, has already reported that “Newly-elected Pope Francis used his second-ever blessing as the head of the Catholic Church to bless a pregnant mother and her unborn child.  The blessing a symbolic overture to the pro-life movement and underscores the importance the Catholic Church places on protecting women and unborn children from abortion.”

Abortion

Abortion

I looked at the video that accompanied this statement and it shows the Pope in a crowd, surrounded by lots of people.  They are kissing his hand and he is “blessing” all of them and one of the women happened to be pregnant.  So, the pro-life media is already stretching things but rest assured that the new Pope will jump in soon on abortion.

I certainly wish the Pope well and I hope he uses his position to make this world a better place to live.   But, as far as the abortion issue is concerned, wouldn’t it be something if when he inevitably condemns abortion, he also condemns the cold blooded murder of real live people who happen to perform those abortions?  Once – just once – I would like to see a Pope (or a priest for that matter) condemn the violence against abortion providers.  Indeed, for him it would be an easy one because no doubt the vast majority of Catholics condemn the killing as well.  But I’m not gonna hold my breath.

Anti Women Catholics

Anti Women Catholics

That’s because the Catholic Church is locked in their ways and the new Pope will not stray far from the flock and stir things up.  Indeed, just the other day I was reminded of the Catholic Church’s head in the sand approach to our world.  I run a local charitable organization for needy children in my area.  Right up the street from me is a Catholic Church which gives out grants to organizations like mine.  Yesterday, I looked at the application and in big, bold letters it said it would not give money to any organization that was in any way connected to “abortion” (and to other causes like the “promotion of homosexuality.”)  Ultimately, I decided I don’t even want their money.

Maybe the Pope can help change this dangerous, myopic outlook and take a more charitable view of those who do not necessarily agree with the Church.  But I doubt it.

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March 10, 2013

We Will Not Back Down!

Posted by Pat Richards under Abortion, Abortion Clinic, Abortion Information | Tags: , |
[19] Comments 

It’s hard to believe that it’s been twenty years…

On March 10, 1993 the “abortion wars” began in earnest.  To be sure, before that day anti-abortion zealots had bombed abortion clinics, harassed doctors and staff (one doctor was actually kidnapped), verbally tortured women as they entered the abortion facilities and engaged in many other forms of what soon would be called “domestic terrorism.”

But on March 10, the first shots were fired – into the back of Doctor David Gunn.

Truth be told, when I got the call from Susan Hill, the owner of several abortion facilities throughout the nation, telling me a doctor had been killed, I wasn’t shocked because in the previous months, anti-abortion activity had been ramping up.  Doctor Gunn worked at Susan’s clinic in Columbus, Georgia and at other separately owned clinics throughout the South.  He was known as a “circuit rider” because he traveled from city to city in his beat up car, performing abortions for a few hours then moving on.   Without his services (and energy), several clinics would have been forced to close because he was the only doctor.  Women would have had to travel much further to receive abortion services.

One of David’s regular stops was the Pensacola Women’s Medical Services, a relatively new clinic in a town that was well known for its virulent anti-abortion zealots.  David had mentioned to Susan that the anti-abortion activity had been picking up at the clinics he worked at and he decided to arm himself – to no avail.

That morning, David Gunn pulled up to the back of the clinic and parked in his usual   space.  There were a few protestors at the front of the clinic but when David pulled in, one of them made their way towards the parking space.  When David got out of the car, he did not bother taking his gun.  He took a few steps towards the clinic and Michael Griffin, a relatively new face to the protest scene, took out his gun and shot David in the back.  He died instantly.

The murder was the lead story in every paper and on the network news.  The inevitable had happened – an abortion doctor had been killed in the name of “saving babies.”

Soon thereafter, the dyke burst wide open.  Over the next few years there would be more murdered doctors.  Then, clinic staff people were targeted.  Those who provided abortion services, no to mention their families, were gripped with fear.  Suddenly they did not walk anywhere without checking their surroundings, looking under their cars for bombs, watching every protestor with a wary eye.  The sale of bullet proof vests escalated dramatically, clinics hired security guards and purchased expensive metal detectors.

And, yes, some doctors decided to abandon their practice and some clinics closed.  But the others hunkered down, refusing to surrender to the terrorists.  Indeed, the Tom Petty song “I Won’t Back Down” became the anthem of abortion providers everywhere.

Ultimately, the violence waned for many years.  That’s why the murder of Doctor George Tiller was such a shock because it had been a while since there was any violence of that nature.   And it will no doubt happen again but the “good” news is that that wave of violence that was ushered in on the morning in Pensacola is just a memory for many.  Still, we can never forget and we should use this “anniversary” to remember not just the sacrifice of David Gunn, but of the others who gave their lives to further the reproductive rights of women.

And rest assured that we will indeed not back down.

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March 3, 2013

Legislating In the Dark

Posted by Pat Richards under Abortion, Abortion Information | Tags: , |
[30] Comments 

The lovely state of Arkansas has now banned all abortions after 20 weeks.  Not a particular surprise to most political folks but I have got to give a shout out to Governor Mike Beebe who actually vetoed the bill the first time through.  Yes, he was ultimately overridden by the legislature but vetoing that bill (especially when he knew he would lose in the end) took a LOT of guts.   As for the new law, I have to assume that it will be challenged in court by the ACLU or the Reproductive Rights Project.

What boggles my mind is that while most objective constitutional scholars believe that the law will be declared unconstitutional, that didn’t seem to bother these legislators in Arkansas.  Nope, they just wanted to make their political points, which make the Governor’s action even more meritorious because he certainly hasn’t won many points for his action.

Indeed, one wonders if the legislators really knew what they were doing.  No doubt they were just dragged by their short hairs by the local anti-abortion yahoos who told them “the truth,” or, more accurately, “their truth.”  I can see them now cornering one of their folks, telling them that after 20 weeks it’s a baby, gosh darn it, and we gotta protect the little ones from their oh-so-promiscuous mothers, now don’t we?

What the legislature probably never heard was that most abortions at that point are not done because the woman can’t fit into her prom dress – a common argument that has been posed by years by the antis.  If the legislators really cared to know “the truth,” they would have heard that late term abortions are done for far more compelling reasons (although, for the record, a woman can get an abortion up to 24 weeks without giving any reason).

Years ago, I visited a clinic in Michigan that performed abortions up to 24 weeks.  With her permission, I accompanied a young woman who was seeking an abortion at 22 weeks.  She was receiving financial assistance from the government, lived in subsidized housing and did not have the money or insurance to get regular prenatal care.  Ultimately, she went to an Ob-Gyn who informed her that her baby had encephalitis, a swelling of the brain that caused the head to be dangerously oversized.  He said that chances were that the baby would not survive and could, in fact, harm the woman during delivery.   The woman, through her tears, told me she felt she had to abort her child.

At one point during the process, we were in the sonogram room and the nurse turned on the machine, coated her stomach with gel and together we watched the image on the screen.  At one point, she reached out to take my hand.  The image was very clear.  She actually said “oh, look at my baby!”  She asked the nurse several questions and I could barely hold back my tears as the patient talked in rather clinical terms about the image on the screen.  Then, the nurse asked her if she was ready to proceed.  The woman sighed, as if she might be having second thoughts and then she simply said “yes, I need to do this.”

Did the legislators in Arkansas even think about the cases like this?  Actually, were they even told about cases like this?  We’ll never know but I’m sure those who voted for the bill just keep thinking about “killing babies that would survive outside of the womb” (questionable) at 20 plus weeks.  I’m sure they never even considered the woman.  But what else is new, huh?

If this law actually goes into effect, more women will be forced to bear babies against their will.  The woman I met would have had to carry her baby for several more weeks and then probably watch it die.

And the war against women continues.

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February 24, 2013

Abortion

Posted by Pat Richards under Abortion, Abortion Blog, Abortion Centers, Abortion Clinic, Abortion Doctor, Abortion Information | Tags: , , |
[28] Comments 
Dr. Tiller

Dr. Tiller

George Tiller would have been proud.

In May, 2009, Doctor George Tiller was assassinated while serving as an usher at his church in Wichita, Kansas.  Over the years, he had become known world-wide as the doctor who performed very late term abortions.  As a result, he and his staff became a target for anti-abortion zealots.  Indeed, years earlier he was shot in the arm as he was leaving his clinic but he survived and was at work the next day.  For such a soft spoken man, he became a lightning rod in the abortion “wars” and ultimately one of those zealots caught up with him.

Soon after his death, his clinic in Wichita – Women’s Health Care Services – was shut down by his family.  His colleague, Doctor Lee Carhart, publicly declared that he would try to fill the void left by Tiller’s death and would try to accommodate those patients who he would have treated had he lived.  So, Carhart started doing late abortions in Maryland.  Meanwhile, however, one of Tiller’s former staff people, Julie Burkhart, had another vision.

TrustWomen.org

TrustWomen.org

Working under the auspices of the “Trust Women Foundation,” Burkhart and her troops raised approximately $1 million with the thought of re-opening Tiller’s clinic.   They have been busy renovating the office, recruiting doctors, getting permits, etc.  The new clinic will offer many reproductive health services, including abortions up to 14 weeks.  The clinic is now called the “South Wind Women’s Center.”

Needless to say, at some point the local Operation Rescue folks heard about the plans and they suddenly have a new cause (and a new fundraiser).  They are now a constant presence at the clinic (even though no patients are using it yet).  They even photographed a plumbing contractor hauling two large trailers onto the building parking lot and they then posted the name of the contractor on their website, encouraging their troops to barrage his office with phone calls.  That’s just what they do and, at times, they can be very effective.

Abortion

Abortion

Then, Operation Rescue turned their attention to Wichita’s Planning Commission where they attempted to get the clinic property rezoned to prohibit it from opening.  Despite receiving thousands of letters and emails from pro-lifers, the Commission voted 6-4 against the rezoning request.  Talk about courage!.   It is possible, however, that the Wichita City Council could still decide to take up the rezoning request on its own so that battle is not over yet.

Ms Burkhart and her staff have cajones.   They could have sat back, held an annual vigil in Doctor Tiller’s name and gone on with their lives.  But Burkhart has Doctor Tiller’s same commitment to providing health care to women despite the dangerous climate.  And, yes, she has his guts.  As she recently said in an interview:  “We’re not going to be pushed around by the antis.”

They are facing daunting opposition.  And Julie knows better than anyone that her life is on the line, just like Doctor Tiller’s was.  But she and her tenacious staff are plowing forward.   They will not be bullied.

You go, girls!

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February 10, 2013

“One of Our Patients Died”

Posted by Pat Richards under Abortion, Abortion Clinic, Abortion Information | Tags: |
[101] Comments 
Abortion

Abortion

“Pat, sorry to bother you this morning but I wanted you to know that one of our patients died yesterday.”  I could barely understand the caller, her message being obscured by her audible sobs.

It was a Saturday morning in 1996 when I got the call at home from the director of an abortion clinic in Illinois.  As a staff person at the National Coalition of Abortion Providers, all of the directors and owners had my home phone in case of an emergency.  Generally, the calls I got at home were to tell me a doctor had been killed or a clinic firebombed.  This was the first time I got a call about a patient dying in a clinic.

The director told me that the woman had died of a pulmonary embolism, something that was totally unpredictable.  Still, although they were not responsible it was clear that the entire staff, from the director to the receptionist who checked her in that morning, they were stunned and they spent hours going back in their minds (and in the charts) to see if they missed any sign.

Despite what the anti-abortion advocates would have you believe, deaths in abortion clinics are an extremely rare occurrence.  So rare, in fact, that when it happens, it becomes ”national news” amongst the abortion provider community.  Indeed, upon speaking to the director I immediately sent out a broadcast fax to our clinics letting them know of this unfortunate event.  I was told later that the clinic received a number of calls, emails and flowers as a sign of support for the staff.

But the fact is that abortion clinics are medical facilities that conduct surgery and, as in any other medical facility, sometimes things can go wrong or there can be a unfortunate, natural occurrence.  The death could also be the result of blatant negligence or just an unfortunate set of circumstances.  It’s possible that the patient did not tell the clinic some vital information that led to her death.  It could just be anything

I thought about that incident years ago when I heard that a 29-year old woman had recently died when she was having a late term abortion performed by Doctor Lee Carhart in Maryland.  Of course, the anti-abortion groups were quick to pass judgment.  “The avoidable death of this young woman dramatically illustrates the dangers of third trimester abortions that are done outside of the safety of obstetrical standards,” said Troy Newman, President of Operation Rescue and Pro-life Nation.

This is par for the course.  A woman unfortunately dies and the anti-abortion folks will jump all over this, making it appear as if nothing was done to save the woman’s life, that the staff just sat around watching Oprah while a woman died in their clinic.  They’ll suggest that staff tried to cover up the “botched abortion.”  And, of course, they’ll then argue about the “dangers” of legal abortion.

Approximately one million women each year get abortions.  Some will be injured, some will have a bad reaction emotionally and a very small handful will die from the abortion itself or have some complication.   Those who oppose legal abortion will fail to mention that on average only six women die from complications of a safe/legal abortion in the United States and that there are actually 13.3 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births. And more than 68,000 women nearly die in childbirth in the United States every year.

No, instead they will spend their energies trying to bring as much attention as possible by focusing on this one very unfortunate incident, they will rush to judgment without collecting any official facts and they’ll argue that, because of a rare incident like this, abortion should be made illegal in this country.  Oh, and they’ll probably throw in there a pitch for money to their organization.

In the meantime, they will totally ignore the hundreds and thousands of women who get abortions safely, who go home after the procedure, go to work the next day and move on with their life with no regrets.

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February 3, 2013

The Last Abortion Clinic In Mississippi?

Posted by Pat Richards under Abortion, Abortion Centers, Abortion Clinic, Abortion Information, Abortion Pill | Tags: , |
[161] Comments 
Abortion

Abortion

Susan Hill and I were having lunch at the Mayflower Hotel years ago when she informed me that she was opening up another abortion clinic, this time in Jackson, Mississippi.  I looked at her incredulously and asked her why?    “Because the women down there need a good facility” she answered.

I had known Susan for many years by that time.  She was a vivacious, articulate woman who could sweet talk anyone to get what she wanted.  She’d also rip your lungs out if you crossed her.  At that time, she ran seven abortion clinics in cities like Jacksonville, Raleigh and Fort Wayne.  She also owned what had to be the most famous abortion clinic in the country, the Fargo Women’s Health Organization – the only clinic in the state.  Because it was all by itself in that conservative part of the country, it was the target of incredibly intents anti-abortion activity.  Protests with thousands of people, fire bombings, constant death threats.  Their doctors had bodyguards and were smuggled into Fargo in the back seats of cars.  The clinic was featured on the cover of the New York Times Magazine.

Abortion

Abortion

And Susan loved all of the attention it got.  It was her political statement against those who sought to make North Dakota an “abortion free state.”

At that time in Mississippi, there were two other abortion clinics that left much to be desired.  “The women deserve better and I’m gonna build the Taj Majal right there in Jackson,” Susan told me.  She was anxious to go into the belly of the beast and build a state of the art abortion facility in that backward state.   Over the next year or two, she spent a lot of time flying back and forth to Jackson.  I can still visualize her walking the streets in her skin tight dresses, usually a black ensemble that offset her outrageously blond hair.  When she walked into a room at the Ritz in Manhattan, she attracted attention.  I could only imagine the ruckus she caused in redneck country.

Susan ultimately built her clinic, which I was fortunate enough to visit on two occasions.  It was a jewel, albeit an eyesore to the anti-abortion zealots who now had a new target.  And they camped out front for years thereafter.   But the clinic survived and served thousands and thousands of women.

A few years ago, Susan Hill died of breast cancer.  I think of her often.  And I could not help thinking about her again just a few days ago when I read that the Jackson Women’s Health Organization was on the verge of closing.  It seems that the Health Department has announced that it would revoke the clinic’s operating license after an inspection found that it is has not complied with a state law that requires that all abortion doctors to maintain local hospital privileges.  Closure of the clinic may take up to six weeks until a hearing can be held and a formal revocation can take place.

But I also heard that the clinic staff was fighting hard to keep the only clinic in Mississippi open.  They are apparently grasping onto any straw and fighting at every turn to assure that women in that state have access to good reproductive health services.

They may or may not ultimately prevail.  But their courageous efforts deserve much applause.  I know Susan is rooting them on right now.

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January 27, 2013

Much Ado About Nothing

Posted by Pat Richards under Abortion, Abortion Blog, Abortion Information | Tags: |
[53] Comments 
Abortion

Abortion

I’m not gonna write about the “March for Life.”   I went over there for a while, braved the freezing temperatures, listened to a few of the predictable speeches (I had no idea how bad a person I was) and just hung around until my meter expired.  I will say that I saw lots of young kids and hardly any of those old gross fetus signs.

Interestingly, I heard no talk about this legal case that’s been getting a lot of attention lately where the “Catholic Church” is supposedly backing down from its centuries old position that fetuses are people and deserve full legal protection.  Now, let me clarify.

Thirty-one year old Lori Stodghill was seven months pregnant with twins when she arrived at the St. Thomas More Hospital in Colorado on New Year’s Day, 2006.  She was vomiting and short of breath and she soon passed out as she was being wheeled into an examination room.  The staff tried to resuscitate her to no avail and she died of a massive heart attack.  Her doctor, Pelham Staples, who coincidentally on call that night but he apparently never answered his page.  Ms. Stodgill died at the hospital less than an hour after she arrived and her twins died in her womb.

Abortion

Abortion

Soon thereafter, the inevitable lawsuit was filed by Ms. Stodghill’s husband.  He filed a wrongful-death lawsuit, arguing that Doctor Staples could have saved his wife’s and the twins’ lives if he had at least instructed the emergency room staff to perform a caesarian-section. An expert later said such a procedure may not have saved the mother, but it may have saved the twins.  The lead defendant in the case is Catholic Health Initiatives, an Englewood-based nonprofit that runs the hospital as well as roughly 170 other health facilities in 17 states.

So, the focus of the suit turned to the twins.  In response, the attorney for the defendants came up with an interesting argument.  He argued that the plaintiff’s case (as it related to the twins) was not valid because “in Colorado that the term ‘person,’ as is used in the Wrongful Death Act, encompasses only individuals born alive…therefore plaintiffs cannot maintain wrongful death claims based on two unborn fetuses.”

That’s when the proverbial poop hit the pro-choice fan.  Hypocrisy, they screamed!   So, now, because it’s convenient and it might cost them money, the “Church” is saying that fetuses are NOT people?  Now they want it both ways?  Suddenly, this “gotcha” moment spread like wildfire.

I grow weary of how political groups (on both sides of any issue) love to scrutinize every word uttered by their opponent and blow it up if it appears to contradict their mission in any way.  They watch for any comment – even if someone is merely asking a question out loud – and they pounce if they think they can make hay (or money) out of it.  Then, the media jumps on it.  If some rock star says something – like a Dixie Chick questioning the Iraqi war – Fox News is all over it.   And MSNBC ain’t any better folks.   It’s the 24 hour news cycle that strains for any kind of “news” and political advocates now know how to play the game.

So, unless I am totally missing the boat – and that is always a possibility – the way I interpret the attorney’s defense is that if you review the current law in Colorado it says that the two twins shall not be recognized as “people.”    And, as such, they cannot be brought into this lawsuit.  As far as I know, the “Catholic Church” has not reversed their centuries old doctrine that fetus are (or at least, should be declared) a “person.”  I think we all would have heard about that policy reversal, don’t you think?

They surely do not like this Wrongful Death Act as it is written in Colorado.  Chances are they may have actually opposed it because it didn’t include their precious fetuses.  And they may be actively trying to get the law changed.  But the law is the law at this point and, while they may not like it, they will surely try to use it to their advantage.

So, what’s the ballyhoo all about?

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