Thoughts from an Abortion Doctor
This is a guest post by an abortion doctor. Her name has been removed to protect her and her family.
I’d like to share some of my thoughts with you regarding abortion. I’m a doctor who does both 1st and 2nd trimester abortions.
Although most of my practice is general OB/GYN, I’m something of an abortion “specialist” because most folks in my profession don’t want to be involved in abortions. I work for a large group where abortions are sent to those of us who will do them, so I perform literally hundreds of abortions a year.
First of all, I and most of my abortionist colleagues are women. Most of us are Jews, atheists, and other non-Christians. Almost all of us are mothers. I continued to perform abortions late into my own pregnancies, and you could literally see the appreciation in the eyes of my patients, knowing that I accepted and supported their reproductive choice.
I rarely tell anyone but my closest friends and family that I do abortions because I don’t want to risk myself or my family. Those crazies out there scare me.
Who Gets Abortions and Why?
We all know that anti-abortionists aren’t really “pro-life,” they are “pro-forced birth.” They make huge assumptions about who the women are who actually have abortions. They think that all the women who have abortions are just young flaky women who have no concern for the life of the embryo/fetus they are aborting. They couldn’t be more wrong.
Most of the women seeking early abortion are either very young or in the late part of their reproductive life. The youngsters are often coerced into unwanted pregnancies by their partners, or they didn’t think or know that they could get pregnant. Some of the older women think they couldn’t get pregnant because they were “too old.”
The decision to have an abortion is an agonizing decision, that few women choose lightly. They will be criticized for whatever decision they make. What kind of terrible mother could kill her own child? What kind of terrible mother could give her child away to strangers? What kind of terrible mother would keep a child she can’t afford to care for?
Did you know that half of the abortions done in this country are done because of birth control failure?
The “pro-coerced birthers” think that these are immoral women who should be punished for their (sex) sins with an innocent child. Then they complain about “welfare mothers” who need money to support their children. Those “precious babies” become children who they don’t want to feed. Aren’t Christians supposed to provide charity for those who need it? Worse then that, they don’t want to use federal funds to provide effective contraception or abortions for poor women. They just want to keep punishing women. Of course, if it’s one of their own, she just “made a mistake, she’s really a good girl.” Abortions happen in the fundie community too, don’tcha know.
Did you know that 1/3 of women who have abortions had a partner who sabotaged their birth control method? This is true domestic violence.
Women who have abortions come from all walks of life. This is not a phenomenon of only the inner city. Many are educated, and most of them are just plain middle class people.
The 1st trimester and early 2nd trimester abortions are most frequently done as elective abortions for unwanted pregnancies. I don’t like to do elective terminations after 22 weeks because of the viability issue. Late 2nd trimester pregnancies are very different.
Virtually all of the late 2nd trimester abortions I do are for fetal anomalies, fetal deaths, and for maternal health reasons. These poor souls really wanted their babies. They are in deep mourning because of the loss of their children. They come in deep grief, many times feeling guilty because they are “killing” their loved and wanted children. They worry if the baby will feel the abortion, and they don’t want their child to suffer.
Performing Abortions
Many folks wonder what it’s like to perform abortions. First trimester abortions (dilation and curettage, D&C) are very unremarkable. Our patients are awake but sedated. The procedure is performed with a suction curette (hard plastic tube), and in the hands of an experienced abortionist, suctioning out the pregnancy lasts less than a minute. The “products of conception” come out as just a mass of undefined tissue about the size of a golf ball. No thunder and lightning. Most patients have worked themselves up to have it be a long, grueling process, but are shocked at how short the procedure is.
2nd trimester abortions are very different. The later procedure is much more difficult and riskier for the mom, hence the limited number of us who actually do them. They are also unpleasant, because the procedure (dilation and evacuation, D&E) involves pulling out the baby in pieces. That all being said, the procedure (in the hands of an expert) is much safer than inducing the delivery, and has a much lower complication rate that the induction does. Many of these poor parents don’t want to be awake for the birth of the child they are going to lose, and just prefer to lose the child under general anesthesia.
I’ve never done the famous “D&X” (dilation and extraction, “partial birth abortion”) procedure. This was the one that was outlawed because opponents thought it was too horrible of a procedure. The concept was to try to deliver the baby intact, but the brain matter was suctioned out to allow the delivery of the head through the cervix. This procedure was designed so that the parents of the child could hold an intact baby, back of the head covered up, after a surgical abortion. Not because we horrible abortionists love to torture babies and then kill them.
Why Do I Perform Abortions?
I would be the happiest person in the world to never do another abortion again. So why do I do them? Because pregnant women with unwanted pregnancies are willing to risk just about anything, including almost killing themselves, in order to try to end unwanted pregnancies.
I remember reading some statistics comparing abortions in the U.S. and Mexico, before they were legal there. About the same number of abortions were done in each country, just over 1 million abortions a year. In the U.S. about 10 women died as a result of legal abortion. In Mexico, about 10,000 women per year died as a result of illegal abortions. 10,000 women who were mothers, sisters, daughters, wives. Not pre-viable fetuses.
There’s excellent evidence that in countries where women control their reproduction, the families are more prosperous. Funny that, women knowing when it’s a good or a bad time to add a child to their family.
You would never pick out an abortionist in the crowd. We would probably be the last people you would figure. We are the kindest, most compassionate people you would wish to meet. We are, however, very passionate about protecting the lives and reproductive rights of our patients.
Last time I checked, abortion was legal in this country. But I can tell you that the people who oppose abortion have no feelings of any kind for the poor women who have to make the terrible decision to end a pregnancy for whatever reason. They want to end abortion because they love those theoretical innocent children.
Oh, yeah, forgot that we are all born sinners. Maybe they aren’t such great babies after all.
Via: http://unreasonablefaith.com
I’d like to share some of my thoughts with you regarding abortion. I’m a doctor who does both 1st and 2nd trimester abortions.
Although most of my practice is general OB/GYN, I’m something of an abortion “specialist” because most folks in my profession don’t want to be involved in abortions. I work for a large group where abortions are sent to those of us who will do them, so I perform literally hundreds of abortions a year.
First of all, I and most of my abortionist colleagues are women. Most of us are Jews, atheists, and other non-Christians. Almost all of us are mothers. I continued to perform abortions late into my own pregnancies, and you could literally see the appreciation in the eyes of my patients, knowing that I accepted and supported their reproductive choice.
I rarely tell anyone but my closest friends and family that I do abortions because I don’t want to risk myself or my family. Those crazies out there scare me.
Who Gets Abortions and Why?
We all know that anti-abortionists aren’t really “pro-life,” they are “pro-forced birth.” They make huge assumptions about who the women are who actually have abortions. They think that all the women who have abortions are just young flaky women who have no concern for the life of the embryo/fetus they are aborting. They couldn’t be more wrong.
Most of the women seeking early abortion are either very young or in the late part of their reproductive life. The youngsters are often coerced into unwanted pregnancies by their partners, or they didn’t think or know that they could get pregnant. Some of the older women think they couldn’t get pregnant because they were “too old.”
The decision to have an abortion is an agonizing decision, that few women choose lightly. They will be criticized for whatever decision they make. What kind of terrible mother could kill her own child? What kind of terrible mother could give her child away to strangers? What kind of terrible mother would keep a child she can’t afford to care for?
Did you know that half of the abortions done in this country are done because of birth control failure?
The “pro-coerced birthers” think that these are immoral women who should be punished for their (sex) sins with an innocent child. Then they complain about “welfare mothers” who need money to support their children. Those “precious babies” become children who they don’t want to feed. Aren’t Christians supposed to provide charity for those who need it? Worse then that, they don’t want to use federal funds to provide effective contraception or abortions for poor women. They just want to keep punishing women. Of course, if it’s one of their own, she just “made a mistake, she’s really a good girl.” Abortions happen in the fundie community too, don’tcha know.
Did you know that 1/3 of women who have abortions had a partner who sabotaged their birth control method? This is true domestic violence.
Women who have abortions come from all walks of life. This is not a phenomenon of only the inner city. Many are educated, and most of them are just plain middle class people.
The 1st trimester and early 2nd trimester abortions are most frequently done as elective abortions for unwanted pregnancies. I don’t like to do elective terminations after 22 weeks because of the viability issue. Late 2nd trimester pregnancies are very different.
Virtually all of the late 2nd trimester abortions I do are for fetal anomalies, fetal deaths, and for maternal health reasons. These poor souls really wanted their babies. They are in deep mourning because of the loss of their children. They come in deep grief, many times feeling guilty because they are “killing” their loved and wanted children. They worry if the baby will feel the abortion, and they don’t want their child to suffer.
Performing Abortions
Many folks wonder what it’s like to perform abortions. First trimester abortions (dilation and curettage, D&C) are very unremarkable. Our patients are awake but sedated. The procedure is performed with a suction curette (hard plastic tube), and in the hands of an experienced abortionist, suctioning out the pregnancy lasts less than a minute. The “products of conception” come out as just a mass of undefined tissue about the size of a golf ball. No thunder and lightning. Most patients have worked themselves up to have it be a long, grueling process, but are shocked at how short the procedure is.
2nd trimester abortions are very different. The later procedure is much more difficult and riskier for the mom, hence the limited number of us who actually do them. They are also unpleasant, because the procedure (dilation and evacuation, D&E) involves pulling out the baby in pieces. That all being said, the procedure (in the hands of an expert) is much safer than inducing the delivery, and has a much lower complication rate that the induction does. Many of these poor parents don’t want to be awake for the birth of the child they are going to lose, and just prefer to lose the child under general anesthesia.
I’ve never done the famous “D&X” (dilation and extraction, “partial birth abortion”) procedure. This was the one that was outlawed because opponents thought it was too horrible of a procedure. The concept was to try to deliver the baby intact, but the brain matter was suctioned out to allow the delivery of the head through the cervix. This procedure was designed so that the parents of the child could hold an intact baby, back of the head covered up, after a surgical abortion. Not because we horrible abortionists love to torture babies and then kill them.
Why Do I Perform Abortions?
I would be the happiest person in the world to never do another abortion again. So why do I do them? Because pregnant women with unwanted pregnancies are willing to risk just about anything, including almost killing themselves, in order to try to end unwanted pregnancies.
I remember reading some statistics comparing abortions in the U.S. and Mexico, before they were legal there. About the same number of abortions were done in each country, just over 1 million abortions a year. In the U.S. about 10 women died as a result of legal abortion. In Mexico, about 10,000 women per year died as a result of illegal abortions. 10,000 women who were mothers, sisters, daughters, wives. Not pre-viable fetuses.
There’s excellent evidence that in countries where women control their reproduction, the families are more prosperous. Funny that, women knowing when it’s a good or a bad time to add a child to their family.
You would never pick out an abortionist in the crowd. We would probably be the last people you would figure. We are the kindest, most compassionate people you would wish to meet. We are, however, very passionate about protecting the lives and reproductive rights of our patients.
Last time I checked, abortion was legal in this country. But I can tell you that the people who oppose abortion have no feelings of any kind for the poor women who have to make the terrible decision to end a pregnancy for whatever reason. They want to end abortion because they love those theoretical innocent children.
Oh, yeah, forgot that we are all born sinners. Maybe they aren’t such great babies after all.
Via: http://unreasonablefaith.com
Replies are closed for this discussion.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Matthew Bowler on -
THANKS! I never would have read that if you didn't ask. The court's rational is wrong.
Nice try attempting to downplay Roe Vs Wade.. it goes WAY further than "...it only takes away a state government's ability to pass a law completely banning abortions".
I found peoples interpretation of Roe v. Wade is complete contradictory bullshit. (a) For the stage prior to approximately the end of the first trimester, the abortion decision and its effectuation must be left to the medical judgement of the pregnant woman's attending physician. Pp. 163, 164.
So it's not a right, its a physicians decision. It's a medical judgement not a "choice".
The state has an interest in protecting potential life, which any pregnancy undoubtedly is. So if the state finds that a physician made a judgement call that did not protect the potential for life he can go to jail. The physician must provide that the pregnancy is causing health problems (which could be anything to a woman).
I do not believe the Federal judge has the ability to declare that a state has more interest in potentiality of life at different stages. I think that a state should be able to define for itself what life is and regulate abortion accordingly. A court DOES NOT MAKE law, so they cannot say that the decision must be left up to only a physician.
It states that criminal abortion law "violate the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, which protects against state action the right to privacy, including a woman's qualified right to terminate her pregnancy." Sorry, I don't see how abortion is a privacy issue. It is an issue of life and death. Yeah, all abortions are not criminal, but some are.
I don't believe abortion is a right, however, I don't totally agree with criminalizing women for abortion. I think that if a woman has an unnecessary abortion there is something seriously wrong with her in the first place. I do believe that a physician should not be allowed to perform abortions unless there is a health problem.
Hope you enjoy my perspective, I had success entertaining myself with this topic. We could argue back and forth for ages although I think I am finished with this topic. Happy New Year! -
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Permalink Reply by Matthew Bowler on
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"that until the end of the first trimester mortality in abortion may be less than mortality in normal childbirth."
Fair enough, then under the law the legality of a decision to abort is protected due to interest of reducing mortality and the court leaves that decision to a physician.
I think that Roe Vs. Wade goes to far in it's decision of keeping the state away from protecting life. You have the right to protect yourself. I do not understand abortion as a right, it is not a right, it is a medical practice. The minute you tell a physician that you are pregnant the physician licensed by the government has responsibility of protecting that life and the physician has responsibility of weighing mortality. An abortion doctor who does not offer alternatives or attempt to weigh mortality and simply performs the medical procedure to make a profit is a criminal (in my mind). I think that the government should somehow be involved in determining if an abortion doctor has done anything to protect the life of the unborn. I do not appreciate people who completely disregard their own personal responsibility to protect life.
I'm not a lawyer, but I am interested in protecting life. Atheists have morals too. -
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Permalink Reply by Misty: Baytheist Living! on -
I'm not a lawyer, but I am interested in protecting life. Atheists have morals too.
Wow. Your ego in calling what is 'moral' or not is amazing. At what point is it your business or that of anyone else to make 'moral' judgments over another person's life? You are not moral. You are a self righteous twat, in my humble opinion.
I think that Roe Vs. Wade goes to far in it's decision of keeping the state away from protecting life. I think you need to first prove that a fetus is a life instead of a clump of cells dependent upon a host.
You have the right to protect yourself. I do not understand abortion as a right, it is not a right, it is a medical practice.
1) A medical practice is the institution of medicine. Abortion is a medical PROCEDURE.
2)Abortion is indeed a 'right.' Here is the definition of the word.
a. Something that is due to a person or governmental body by law, tradition, or nature.
Since it is legal, and since the human body spontaneously aborts more pregnancies than it brings to term, it is also natural. Abortion in some form has been around since recorded history in the forms of herbal teas, medications and surgeries. I guess you can even say it is traditional.
I think that the government should somehow be involved in determining if an abortion doctor has done anything to protect the life of the unborn. I do not appreciate people who completely disregard their own personal responsibility to protect life.
Right, so by your way of thought, a distressed woman should have to stand in front of a judge or board and make a list of reasons as to why she wants an abortion. If these people rule in her favor, then it is granted...but the end choice isn't hers. Fucking fantastic. Way to strip half the population of their reproductive rights! That's moral! Let's just picture this for a moment. A woman who knows that her baby will be born, live for a few short hours in horrible pain and then die an agonizing death will have to have an already difficult choice litigated by someone else....or maybe a woman that needs to start chemo....or hey.. maybe it is just some lady who has been recently laid off of her job, and can't afford another mouth to feed, hospital bills and other expenses because her birth control failed. Nice to stand her up and humiliate her...why don't we make her beg for one first, and explain why she is such a loser that can't hold down a job? Maybe do the same thing to a teen girl that made a mistake. As if there isn't enough shame already involved.....?
This is the morality you are talking about. Inhumane, prolonged suffering that is none of your damn business to begin with. -
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Permalink Reply by Reggie on -
I'm not a lawyer, but I am interested in protecting life.
Protecting all life? At all costs?
The problem here is that I don't know what you mean by "life". Sperm is alive. Unfertilized eggs are alive. Will you protect them, make me stand in front of a judge for permission to rub one out? Or do you mean life as in "personhood"? That is a much different question. I am not even remotely convinced that by some magic, at conception, that a person is made. This type of thinking is tantamount to believing in ensoulment. That reeks more of the vestiges of a person's religious upbringing rather than rational thought.
It is a very hard thing to realize that what makes you, well, you, is not some soul or permanent fixture that has been in your body since before birth. An embryo is not a person and should not be granted any rights that supersede those of the mother, who is demonstrably a person by most definitions.
Atheists have morals too.
But not all atheists are rational. It may feel good, moral, and just to protect what you have built up in your head as a person with rights (an embryo). But, until you can provide rational reasons for suppressing the reproductive rights of women, I do not think you have the moral high ground here. -
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Permalink Reply by Reggie on
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And I see now that you are listed as a Christian on your profile, Matthew. So perhaps you do believe in the magic of ensoulment and the idea that God knew each of us before we were born. In that case, there is no rational, common ground we can find to even bother discussing the issue.
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Permalink Reply by Matthew Bowler on
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Why should I have to explain everything for you? Of course I was talking about human life! duh. No you don't have a right to be raised in a loving home, it is nice though. That falls under parental responsibility. You have no ground to say what life is worth living or not. Life has value. I think it would be appropriate for a woman to try to find a solution that is good for both her life and the life of the unborn.
I think it is morally wrong to think of abortion as a right, because it is not a right but a medical practice to reduce mortality. Try evolving a little bit and understand that what I want is for people to take responsibility for their actions and improve themselves and their well-being. I have to make an assumption you may disagree with, abortion is the least responsible solution (although not always) compared to others. While I don't agree with outlawing abortion absolutely, I would welcome government imposed obstacle to the abortion process. -
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Permalink Reply by Kristen Powell on -
It is a right to have ownership over my own body. Abortion is a medical procedure which reduces MY mortality. When that clump of cells can detach its parasitic self from MY body, then it can be treated as something other than a leech.
Has anyone here seen that chapter in Freakonomics where ol' dude lays out crime rates 20 years after abortion was banned...? Freaky, indeed. -
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Permalink Reply by Matthew Bowler on
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I do understand your point of view of ownership over your body. However, even under Roe v Wade a fetus is considered life that others have interest in protecting. Roe v Wade gives that decision to a physician to decide if the pregnancy will reduce her mortality, not to the woman. Killing is not a right. Roe v Wade is convenient for those who want to kill for no good reason. I support making it a little bit inconvenient. By all means, if you are afraid of dying because of something that has occurred billions of times and created the entirety of our population go right ahead and terminate, but understand that the reason you are allowed to is to protect yourself. I believe (and the court believes) reason is required for a moral decision to terminate, not just because you think its not life.
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Permalink Reply by Misty: Baytheist Living! on
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Just another douche bag Xtian who hasn't bothered to read any of the replies.
Troll troll troll.
Had he had the respect to read other's words, he would have seen this 'life' argument already defeated and deflated. He also would have seen the 'take responsibility' argument fall because it isn't mutually compatible with the 'life is sacred' argument. Either you consider a fetus a holy life, or you consider it a consequence used to punish and control others. You can't say it is both sacred AND a pawn.
Try evolving a little bit and understand that what I want is for people to take responsibility for their actions and improve themselves and their well-being
What you want is to legally force people to be enslaved to your way of thinking... which, by the way is so devolved that our government has given us the legal RIGHT to stuff it up yours. The medical PROCEDURE (for fuck's sake, you really didn't read any replies, did you??) IS considered a right, protected by Roe vs. Wade. You sir do not have the ability, function or freedom to even attempt to force your idea of morality on me, my body, or a clump of cells my body produces.
Now either read the arguments in their entirety, address the points directed at you, or bow out of this discussion, as you aren't actually discussing.
There are some debate guidelines you should have a look at if you wish to continue.
http://www.thinkatheist.com/group/helpcenter/forum/topics/debate-gu... -
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Permalink Reply by Matthew Bowler on
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Honestly I was just giving perspective, and until my right to speak is removed I might continue to. Yes, I think in some areas abortion has become an industry more than a humane procedure to reduce mortality. I welcome an obstacle because most people do not grasp the concept that while they may be able to do something easily, it does not make it the right thing to do. I would not like to force people to not get abortions but I would like to force people to think about it and allow others to offer another solution before they commit to the decision. I don't believe this is an argument that can be won, and so I am not frustrated that others disagree with me or hate me for it. I would like to know if you feel that Roe V Wade can be improved or if the conveniences it created are all that matter.
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Permalink Reply by Matthew Bowler on
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medical procedure.. sorry word police.
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