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Posted
Monday, July 07, 2008 1:16 PM
| By
Rachael Larimore
EJ,
I hope you had a great holiday weekend. I don't want to wade into general disagreement territory, either—I suppose most of us have our heels dug in deeply enough that we're not going to change one another's minds. But I wanted to address a few points that you made.
If indeed the "harsh rhetoric" has made abortion less accessible, isn't that a reflection of the unease that a large segment of the population has with the legality of abortion? Just because it's legal doesn't mean that we pro-lifers are going to sit quietly on the sidelines. And, no, just to be extra-super clear, I'm not condoning murderous scare tactics like clinic bombings. But speaking out against abortion, protesting outside clinics, and voting for pro-life candidates are fair and legal ways for pro-lifers to express our belief that abortion shouldn't be legal. It's not a perfect analogy, but death-penalty opponents haven't been quieted by court rulings that uphold the legality of executions, and indeed their protests and agitation have led to more humane executions and more challenges to the death penalty.
You ask, "Why doesn't every ob-gyn offer this surgery?" You wouldn't compel doctors to perform abortions, would you? Even I don't like the South Dakota law that forces doctors to say things they don't believe. It would be far more troubling to force doctors to perform a surgery that violates their own moral code or, in their eyes, the Hippocratic oath (which originally mentioned abortion). How many wonderful doctors would we lose because pro-lifers wouldn't go into the specialty? And what about doctors who are pro-choice but uncomfortable actually doing the deed? What an incredible internal conflict! A doctor could spend most of her day working to bring healthy children into the world and then spend another fraction of it doing the opposite. How do you walk into one exam room and tell a woman that, despite years of trying, she won't be able to have children of her own and then walk into the next room and tell someone else that you'll terminate her unintended pregnancy? Surely there are some doctors who see only the woman as their patient and can make that separation, but there have to be some who see the woman and her child as patients.
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