By Dave Andrusko
Editor’s note. There is still time to register for the National Right to Life convention June 28-30 and to reserve a hotel room at the Hyatt Regency Crystal City in Arlington, Virginia. Just go to www.nrlconvention.org.
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Interestingly enough, although the headline reads, “Why I am Proud to be an Abortion Doctor,” the word “proud” doesn’t appear in the account which ran on Huffington Post in the United Kingdom. Actually, a better word to describe the account, written by an abortionist who works for BPAS, the UK’s largest abortion provider, would be evasive or slippery or clueless.
In a nutshell (tell me if you’ve heard this before) the line is that every abortion is different and therefore nobody ought to say anything that would “stigmatize” the woman, and, by extension the abortionist “who feels compelled, ethically and emotionally, to provide it for her.”
What is interesting is that the unnamed abortionist begins by telling us he “talk[s] to women about performing abortions up to the legal limit every day.” Note to self: there are no limits in the U.K.
While the law ostensibly has an end-point at which abortions can be performed, in truth it does nothing of the sort. Under the 1967 Abortion Act, abortion on “social grounds” is legal through 24 weeks but (under “Ground E”) is legal until birth if there is a substantial risk of “serious” physical or mental abnormality.”
Obviously, the sole limitation would be a strict definition of “abnormality.” Eight years ago it was discovered that a 28-week-old baby diagnosed with a bilateral cleft lip and palate was aborted, brought to light by Church of England curate Joanna Jepson which initiated a lengthy battle between pro-lifers in England and a recalcitrant Department of Health.
More recently investigative reports have shown that abortionists will provide sex-selective abortions and blithely evade even the minimal going-through-the-motion requirements to consult with the woman in advance.
But the most interesting paragraph also comes early on and illustrates perfectly how the pro- and anti-life mentalities each play themselves out in the situation of a crisis pregnancy. He writes
“Someone has written that a woman wants an abortion like an animal stuck in a trap wants to chew its leg off. While the imagery is melodramatic, it conveys the panic and stress an unplanned pregnancy can impose. Perhaps it also communicates something of the relief experienced by women after their abortion; this is one of the things that make being an abortion provider so very rewarding.”
The “someone” is pro-life author and columnist Frederica Mathewes-Green. The full quote reads
“There is a tremendous sadness and loneliness in the cry ‘A woman’s right to choose.’ No one wants an abortion as she wants an ice-cream cone or a Porsche. She wants an abortion as an animal, caught in a trap, wants to gnaw off its own leg.”
The BPAS congratulates himself for providing this service. My guess is, since he also insists no one should be gasp at repeat abortions, he would congratulate himself more and more for each subsequent abortion. After all, he writes,
“fluctuating, complex social circumstances which we all experience can lead anyone, including responsible, conscientious people, to need more than one abortion.”
What Mathewes-Green is saying is a 180 degrees different. Women are DESPERATE—panic-stricken, often under tremendous pressure from boyfriends, and lacking support to bring the baby to term—and feel trapped. She ‘wants” the abortion because she sees no way out.
The abortionist says, “Oh, please, let me help [and collect a hefty sum]. We’ll get you out of this.”
The pro-lifer says, “We know that you don’t really want to end your baby’s life, but you just see no way out. Here, let me show you a better way.”
I don’t want to put words in Mathewes-Green’s mouth, but it’s hard to miss the other meaning: that the woman may “escape” but she does so at the cost of losing a part of herself–physically, ethically, and spiritually.
Sorry, Mr. “Abortion Doctor,” you are doing women no service. And you should never for a second feel proud.
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