Who gets to decide

Susan wrote:

ONLY the woman who is carrying the "child" can determine if it is a "gift" or not.

ONLY the woman whose life is at risk can determine if the risk is worth it for her (and to her family) to continue a pregnancy.

What right does anyone else have to judge her or to choose for her and force her to give birth like some breeding mare to live up to your utopian ideals?

Women are living, viable, fully developed, grown individuals capable of making our own decisions, and we would appreciate it if others who know nothing of our lives and what we face to stay out of our most personal healthcare decisions.

My life was saved by an emergency "D&E"(abortion) when I began to miscarry and almost bled to death. Thank goodness that was before all this nonsense that is going on now, or some zealot might have just let me die needlessly to satisfy their "faith" without any respect for my own. My husband and children are glad they saved the only life they could: mine.

Often they weren't taught how to prevent it

Laura wrote:

Teenagers get pregnant, sometimes because they were careless, but very often because they just weren’t taught how to prevent it. I had a friend who was catholic and she got pregnant at 16. Her parents refused to let her get an abortion, even when the doctors said it was unsafe to carry to term. At 7 months she and the baby died from complications. It’s reasons like that that I think that the choice should be there. I don’t have to think that it’s right, but its not my body that we’re talking about.

Keeping religion out of people's healthcare

Balloon Juice has the details in "I don't care about your invisible Jeebus."

Again, I’m not naturally inclined to be antagonistic towards religion. My parents are both religious and are definite believers. I like Sundays off, I like the Easter and Christmas break, I don’t care if we have to do silly things like pray before certain events (I can just think about other things while they babble), it doesn’t bother me that In God We Trust and other such statements are everywhere in public life, and so on. I’m not some crazed reactionary on the issue.
But from where I stand these days, the only thing I see religion doing in the public sector is gay bashing and telling women, mostly poor and desperate and in deplorable financial and personal situations, what to do with their bodies. I see busybodies deciding what drugs they can dispense to which customers, or deciding that they don’t have to issue a marriage license because of some petty deity that I don’t believe in told them to hate their fellow citizens and ignore the law. In a country in dire financial straits but still spending billions and billions of dollars on education, I see religious folks actively and openly working to make our schoolkids dumber. I see them shooting people who provided a medical procedure, and I see others rummaging through people’s personal lives to find out who hasn’t lived up the word of God. I see glassy-eyed fools running for President claiming that vaccines that save lives actually cause cancer, or that if you get raped and are pregnant, you should just lie back and think of Jeebus and make the best of a bad situation. In fact, everywhere you look these days, if Christianity or religion is getting a mention, it means something ugly is happening and someone somewhere is being victimized, marginalized, or otherwise abused. Go read some of the arguments against integration and you’ll see the same bible verses used today against homosexuals. Fifty years from now, they’ll be recycling them again to trash someone else they don’t like or who isn’t good enough for them.

When there was no choice

This is why we need legal abortion: When there was no choice.

At 77, Dr. Harry S. Jonas can still pinpoint the exact moment when he understood the importance of making abortion legal. The year was 1952 and he was an eager, young obstetrics-gynecology intern in Independence, Miss.. The specialty promised exciting pregnancies and bouncing babies, but his very first patient entered the hospital extremely sick. A mother of 12 children, she had tried—unsuccessfully—to induce an abortion. "She came into the hospital with her intestines hanging out her vagina," recalls Jonas. "Then she died."

How birth control works: the Pill

The Pill prevents a woman's natural reproductive cycle from releasing an egg. No egg means no fertilization.

Towards making abortion rare

Childbirth kills women. Pregnancy kills women. Illegal abortion kills women. Therefore, safe, sterile, legal abortion saves lives and contraception saves even more lives. From the Guttmacher Institute, and old piece on "Toward making abortion rare" by Susan A. Cohen.

Safe, legal and rare. President Clinton first used this phrase, as early as 1992, to capture the essence of a desired national policy on abortion. For the most part, even the most ardent abortion rights supporters have come to embrace this notion and to accept the validity of its two-fold underlying premise: Abortion in the United States must remain legal in order to be safe, and at the same time, even with abortion services legal and accessible to women who need them, abortion can be rare—or at least far less common than it is now.

Most on the prochoice side would agree that lessening the need for abortion is a worthy goal, one both that reflects the fact that most American women try to control their fertility by using birth control rather than abortion and that recognizes the reality that even many of those who support legal abortion also have moral qualms about it. The evidence is strong that abortion’s legal status, however closely related to the conditions under which it is performed, is not the central determinant of its prevalence (related articles, March 2003, page 8, and May 2003, page 3). Prochoice advocates, therefore, assert that the route to rare depends primarily on a societal commitment to helping women be more successful at preventing unintended pregnancy. And this is impossible, they say, without a central emphasis on increasing and improving the use of contraception. (Read more)

Illegal abortions kill: Part 1

Illegal abortions kill people. That's why we need contraception, sex education, and legal abortions done early in a hospital with antibiotics and all emergency equipment at hand. Nevertheless, anti-choice groups have lovingly collected tales of the Danger of Abortions, in an attempt to compare oranges to apples.

These stories are about abortions done by nurses and paramedics or midwives--somewhat trained people who are not doctors. Some aren't even trained--we have here a police officer and a morgue attendant as well.

The deaths occurred between 1899 and 1977 but most were in the first half of the 20th Century--before antibiotics. None of them were done in sterile conditions in hospitals or clinics.

These stories are reminders of what it is like today in countries with little medical care for pregnant women.

Illegal Abortions Done by People with Training

Most illegal abortions were done by physicians. (See Illegal abortion kills, Part 2.) A distant but important second category of illegal abortionists was the paramedical person: somebody with training, and sometimes even equipment, medications, and physician backup. Here are some of the women who died at the hands of these practitioners, both before and after legalization.

• Annie Allison. On September 29, 1923, 44-year-old Annie Allison of Brooklyn died at the office of chiropractor Henry Lee Mottard, who practiced under the name of Dr. Henry L. Green.
• Louise Allman. On January 29, 1929, Louise, age 25, underwent an abortion at the home of Amelia K. Jaruez, a midwife.
• Martha Anderson. On May 5, 1939, 16-year-old Martha died from an abortion performed in a San Diego chiropractic clinic.
• Sarah Bonda. In 1900, Sarah died at her home as a result of a criminal abortion. A midwife arrested in connection with the abortion committed suicide when police came to arrest her.
• Mary Borglun. In 1900, Mary died in her home from complications of an abortion. Mary Kempfer, whose profession was nurse or midwife, was arrested that same day and held without bail by a Coroner's Jury.
• Martha Byzynski. On August 11, 1923, 26-year-old Martha died at Chicago's St. Mary's Hospital from an abortion performed that day. The coroner named Jane Worchowski, a nurse or midwife, as the person responsible.
• Naomi Congdon. Maternity nurse Lena Smith tried to blame this young wife's death on an ingrown toenail.
• Agnes Crowe. On February 16, 1925, 28-year-old Agnes died in Chicago's West Side Hospital from a criminal abortion performed that day. A midwife was implicated.
• Ilene Eagen. On March 21, 1947, Ilene was brought to Mankato, Minnesota, to the dental office of W. A. Groebner for an abortion.
• Anna Fazio. Anna Fazio, age 20, underwent an illegal abortion performed about February 2, 1929, at the Chicago home of midwife Marie Zwienczak.
• Margie Fraser. Margie was 18 when she died at the hands of surgical nurse Gertrude Pitkanen in Butte, Montana.
• Sophia Hartozinski. On December 18, 1923, Sophia died at Chicago's County Hospital due to a criminal abortion performed there that day. The coroner identified midwife Mary Roback as having been responsible.
• Angerita Hargarten. On February 20, 1927, 23-year-old Angerita died in her home from an abortion performed there that day. Midwives Anna Trezek and Frances Raz were held by the coroner.
• Sophia Herman. In late 1903, Sophia was taken to Norwegian Hospital. She died from an abortion. Midwife Harla Faustman was arrested.
• Lillian Hulbert. On October 25, 1922, Lillian died at Chicago's St. Anne's Hospital from complications of a criminal abortion performed on her there that day. The coroner identified a Mrs. M.C. Anderson as responsible.
• Louise Huse. On June 12, 1922, Mrs. Louise Huse, age 30, died at Chicago's Mid West Hospital from a criminal abortion performed there that day and blamed on midwife Agnes Tholl.
• Grace Iorio. On June 7, 1930, 27-year-old Grace died from an illegal abortion performed in the Chicago home of midwife Stepina Pazkiewicz.
• Rosie Jimenez. On September 26, 1977, 27-year-old Rosie Jimenez showed up at the emergency room of McAllen General Hospital in the Texas border town of McAllen, with septic shock. Rosie's cousin had brought her to a lay midwife in McAllen, who charged $120 to insert a catheter into Rosie's uterus.
• Hilja Johnson. This 37-year-old woman died from complications of an abortion attributed to surgical nurse Gertrude Pitkanen.
• Joyce Johnson. Joyce met Harvey Karman in a motel room on April 6, 1955. Karman, using a speculum, inserted a nutcracker into Joyce in order to perform an abortion. I count this as a paramedical abortion rather than an amateur because Harvey was accepted as a doctor among other abortionists, to the point where he was even invited to work in an abortion hospital, training other abortionists.
• Mrs. Andre Jorgenson. 1900, Mrs. Jorgenson died on the scene from an illegal abortion. Anna Pihlgren, whose occupation is listed as nurse or midwife, was arrested and held by the Coroner's Jury.
• Mary Kakacek. On September 23, 1899, Mary died in her Chicago home from complications of an abortion performed that day by midwife Annie Stonek.
• Anna Kick. On November 20, 1925, 29-year-old Anna Kick died in Chicago's Washington Park Hospital from an abortion performed that day at an undisclosed location.
• Alice Kimberly. On February 10, 1957, veterinarian Ira Ledbetter performed an abortion on Alice Kimberly.
• Helen Koss. In 1923, Helen Koss underwent an illegal abortion somewhere in Chicago. On January 6, 1924, she died at Norwegian American Hospital of complications. Midwife Emma Morch was arrested.
• Martha Kohnke. On September 24, 1927, 35-year-old Martha died in Chicago from a criminal abortion performed that day. Nurse Emma Schultz was held by the coroner.
• Jennie Kuba. On June 20, 1929, 28-year-old Jennie died at Chicago hospital from an abortion performed there that day by midwife Mary Zwieniczak.
• Stefania Kwit. On April 3, 1928, 30-year-old Stafania died from complications of a criminal abortion performed that day by midwife Pauline Majerczyk.
• Betty Ladel. Sylvia Redman, who had a license to practice naturopathy, signed a written confession on October 20, 1954 regarding the death of Betty Ladel.
• Asunta La Rosa. On May 5, 1938, Mrs. Genevieve Horton, a practical nurse, pleaded guilty in an abortion case in Westchester County, New York. After being released, Horton performed an abortion on 29-year-old Mrs. Asunta La Rosa.
• Emily LeBinney. Emily's cousin arranged for a midwife to do her abortion. When her baby was born alive, it was tossed in the river.
• Louise Maday. On March 27, 1926, 24-year-old Louise died at Chicago's West End Hospital from complications of an abortion performed that day. Midwife Amelia Becker was held by the coroner.
• Jennie Mallard. On January 16, 1901, Jennie Mallard died at Alexian Brothers Hospital in Chicago from an abortion performed there that day by Margaret Simmons, a nurse or midwife.
• Veronica Maslanka. On June 19, 1922, 26-year-old Veronica died in her Chicago home from complications of an abortion performed there that day. The coroner identified midwife Mary Pesova as the person responsible.
• Catherine Mau. In 1929, 30-year-old Catherine died from an abortion at the hands of Chicago midwife Anna Heisler.
• Violet Morse. This 23-year-old teacher died from complications of an abortion attributed to surgical nurse Gertrude Pitkanen.
• Emily Mueller. In 1926, fifteen-year-old Emily died from a criminal abortion performed somewhere in Chicago. Midwife Magdelane Stegeman, alias Motzny, was identified as the perpetrator.
• Emily Nohavec. Emma Bickel, a 59-year-old midwife, was charged with second-degree manslaugher in the death of 19-year-old Emily Nohavec in 1913.
• Mary Paradowski. In 1926, 23-year-old Mary died in Chicago from a criminal abortion attributed to midwife Josephine Petrova.
• "Chloe" Roe. Dentist Milton Grissom not only performed the fatal abortion on this young woman, but he also took her ring.
• "Rosa" Roe. The CDC's 1976 Abortion Surveillance Summary presents the case of a woman I'll call "Rosa." Rosa was married, 29 years old, with two living children. According to her family, she had previously undergone an illegal abortion in Mexico in 1968.
• Mary Sayers. On May 1, 1925, 26-year-old Mary died at a Chicago residence from a criminal abortion performed on her that day. Midwife Edna Marie Dietrich was arrested.
• Gladys Schaffer. On February 17, 1929, 23-year-old Gladys died after from a criminal abortion performed in Chicago. She died on the spot, in the home of midwife Emma Schulz.
• Rita Shea. Queens patrolman Howard Bailey, morgue attendant Victor Genz, and a Texas medical student, Benjamin Lockhart, were arrested in the December 4, 1965 abortion death of Rita Shea.
• Ozelia Skains. Azelia's death was blamed on chiropractor John Gobischel.
• Jacqueline Smith. In December of 1955, Jackie Smith's boyfriend arranged for a scrub nurse, Leobaldo Pejuan, to perform an abortion at Daniels' apartment on Christmas Eve. After performing the abortion, Pejuan became alarmed at Jackie's condition, and summoned Dr. Ramiro Morales, who told him that Jackie was dead.
• Lucille Smith. On March 6, 1928, Lucille, a 23-year-old store clerk, died at Chicago's Burrows Hospital from complications of an abortion performed that day at the office of midwife Emma Schulz.
• Mrs. Morris Swanson. On July 11, 1904, Mrs. Swanson died at her home from an abortion performed there that day. Midwife Constance Marie Anderson was arrested.
• Katarzyna Tobiasz. On August 29, 1925, Katarzyna died at Chicago's St. Mary's Hospital from an abortion performed on her there that day. A woman identified as a nurse or midwife was arrested.
• Merl Williams. Midwife Cordelia Moore was blamed for the 1937 abortion death of Merl Williams of Watonga, Oklahoma.

Republicans: willing to let women die

Every eight minutes a woman dies from an illegal abortion

The feminist bloggers at I Blame the Patriarchy has identified the bloody cruelty behind those smarmy "pro-life" smiles. The U.S. "Protect Life Act" would let hospital staff withhold life-saving abortions from critically ill patients, salving their consciences and neglecting their duty. So they are renaming the issue: GOP: “Let us bravely endure the deaths of impregnated women who can’t afford non-misogynist healthcare”.

As the author so wisely says,

Crap like this “Protect Life Act” — named by one of those congressional aides who majored in Doublespeak at Dickhead & Prick University — is useful in exposing mother-hate that is normally hidden.

Go read the article.

The Preventable Pandemic

The Lancet said it in 2006: "Unsafe Abortion: the Preventable Pandemic."

Legalisation of abortion on request is a necessary but insufficient step toward improving women's health

and

Direct costs of treating abortion complications [from unsafe abortions] burden impoverished health care systems and indirect costs also drain struggling economies.

and

Access to safe, legal abortion is a fundamental right of women, irrespective of where they live.

and

The underlying causes of morbidity and mortality from unsafe abortion today are not blood loss and infection but, rather, apathy and disdain toward women.

—The Lancet. 2006 Nov 25;368(9550):1908-19.

Reasons for late abortion: anencephaly

A baby born without a brain cannot live and will never become conscious. Sometimes a defect like this is not detected until late in a pregnancy.

When doctors detect that a fetus is developing without a brain, there's no reason to make the pregnant woman go childbirth or through the rest of pregnancy.

It's best to let the woman end the pregnancy and recover, keeping her bodily resources intact for the next pregnancy.

Sons shorten a mother's life

Here's another good reason not to carry a dying or malformed baby to term: a son shortens a mother's life by an average of 34 weeks, apparently through testosterone poisoning. The child born after a boy is smaller, slighter, and less likely to have children, perhaps because the mother's resources are depleted. Similarly, the female twin of a boy is less healthy than expected.

Gee, I wonder if those people aborting females because they want to try for a male child know about this?

Reasons for late abortion: acardius

Acardius means developing without a heart. As long as the fetus depends on the mother for oxygenated blood and nutrients, the heart is not necessary. At birth, respiration suddenly switches and the lack of a heart becomes fatal.

Sometimes acardius is combined with acephaly, as on the right.

In these cases, the only compassionate thing to do is let the pregnant woman have an abortion and recover from the failed pregnancy.

Abortion ban threatens lives of girls and women

Nicaragua has come down with a complete ban on abortion, which prevents women and girls from getting obstetrical treatments that they need.

Nicaragua’s total ban on abortions is endangering the lives of girls and women, denying them life-saving treatment, preventing health professionals from practising effective medicine and contributing to an increase in maternal deaths across the country, concludes Amnesty International in a new report issues on Monday.

According to official figures, 33 girls and women have died in pregnancy this year as compared to 20 in the same period last year. Amnesty International believes these figures are only a minimum as the government itself has acknowledged that the number of maternal deaths is under-recorded.

Canada does not need an abortion law

Abortion is adequately covered, along with other medical practices, by the Canada Health Act. Joyce Arthur points out that "Canada Does Not Need a New Abortion Law."

Canada’s previous abortion law was thrown out as unconstitutional in 1988 by our Supreme Court.
...laws have never stopped abortions, or even reduced them. A recent study by the World Health Organization found that overall abortion rates in the world are similar, regardless of whether abortion is illegal in a country or not. In other words, restrictive abortion laws are not associated with a low abortion rate. In fact, in countries where abortion is widely available – including Canada – there has typically been a decline in abortion rates over time, especially when contraception use rises.

Canada’s abortion rate is low compared to other countries in the world, and has been decreasing steadily since 1999. The most recent Statistics Canada report (for 2005) noted that out of 1,000 women of childbearing age, 14.1 have an abortion each year. That compares favourably to western Europe’s rate of 12, the lowest abortion rate in the world. In contrast, the American rate is 20, and U.S. women must navigate through a thicket of abortion restrictions. (The global average rate is 29 per 1,000 women, with the highest number of abortions occuring in countries where it's illegal, and in countries with poor access to contraception.)

It’s ironic that abortion laws are motivated by a desire to limit abortions, yet one of the best ways to reduce abortion is to liberalize or repeal anti-abortion laws. That’s not the only factor of course. The real key is to promote women’s rights, with particular attention to their reproductive rights. Most countries in western Europe enjoy a more pragmatic attitude towards sexuality and contraception, and strong support for women’s equality. Also, most abortions occur because women can’t afford to have a child, so governments can significantly reduce abortion numbers by building a more stable, prosperous society and making child-rearing economically feasible. There is no need for societies to defend fetal interests directly, as the best way to protect fetuses is to provide resources directly to pregnant women. When a pregnant woman is safe and healthy, so is her fetus.

Controversial doctor faced a lifetime of persecution

Sandra Martin has written an article giving the biography of Dr. Henry Morgentaler, Canada's champion of abortion rights for women: "Controversial abortion doctor faced a lifetime of persecution".

Dr. Morgentaler went ahead with his plans to open a Toronto clinic on Harbord Street in June 15, 1983. It was raided in July by police who seized some equipment and charged Dr. Morgentaler and two colleagues, Dr. Robert Scott and Dr. Leslie Smoling, with procuring illegal miscarriages. On Nov. 8, 1984, an Ontario jury, following its Quebec predecessors, acquitted him and his two associates.

Lawyer Alan Cooper, then a Crown counsel, said later that he never expected to win the case. “I knew 90 per cent of Canada was against me,” he told The Globe. “Dr. Morgentaler was like a national hero. Even devout Catholics were coming up to me during the trial and saying: ‘How can you prosecute him?' Even my parents said that to me once.”

Dr. Morgentaler was jubilant, but his victory was short-lived. Attorney-general Roy McMurtry announced that the verdict would be appealed, but that no new prosecutions would be initiated. However, a second charge was laid on Dec. 20, 10 days after the clinic reopened. Dr. Morgentaler described it as “legal anarchy” and, on Jan. 7, was back in business, personally performing abortions at his Toronto clinic, while anti-abortionists picketed outside.

The jury verdict was subsequently reversed by the Ontario Court of Appeal in October, 1985. The case was referred to the Supreme Court of Canada, which ruled in 1988 that the abortion law under which Dr. Morgentaler had been convicted contravened Section 7 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Forcing women to endure potentially life-threatening delays violated their charter guarantee of life, liberty and security of the person.

The ruling put an end to the old system under which legal abortions could only be performed in the health system after a patient had successfully petitioned a hospital-based committee of three doctors. The Supreme Court found that this cumbersome process was arbitrary, demeaning and potentially injurious to women.

Twenty years of legal abortion

In January, 2008, Canada's laws restricting abortion were struck down. Abortion became a matter between a woman and her doctor, constrained only by the Canada Health Act. That doesn't mean that women can get an abortion at any time; while it's not illegal, doctors will not do a late abortion except for sound medical reasons. In fact, it can be hard to get an abortion after ten weeks, which is really eight weeks, since official pregnancy starts on the first day of the last period. So by the time a woman realizes she's pregnant, it is getting a little late for her to arrange for an abortion.

Civilization did not fall. Abortion became safer because with fewer hoops to jump through, it's on the average earlier. One notable statistic is that the crime rate took a sudden dip a few years ago. That's not surprising. One of the rare controlled studies showed that women who wanted abortions and didn't get them raised children who were more likely to turn to crime.

Here's the story: "Both sides of the debate mark 20 years of legal abortion."

On Jan. 28, 1988, Chief Justice Brian Dickson ruled that a Canadian law severely restricting access to medical abortions was unconstitutional because it violates the Charter of Rights and Freedoms....

Louise Harbour, who is a member of the anti-abortion group Action Life Ottawa, said people's perspective on unplanned pregnancy has changed in the years since the law was struck down.

"It's as if it's almost expected that …you will choose an abortion if you find yourself pregnant," she said.

[One student], a member of Canadian Youth for Choice, said abortion rights advocates and anti-abortion groups do share some common ground, and the next step in the ongoing debate over abortion rights is for the two sides to work together.

When the two sides meet, she said, they both talk about preventing unintended pregnancies.

"And so what can we do to work together in order to prevent it?" she said. "Really, at the end of the day, we want women to be making healthy choices for themselves and however they define that."

Sexual and Reproductive Health: Executive summary of the Lancet series

It's all here: a summary of the Lancet series on Sexual and Reproductive Health (PDF). It's a rather stinging condemnation of our neglect of women's health and sexual issues in general.

The preventable pandemic

Unsafe abortion: the preventable panemic (PDF) is a pre-print copy of a paper published in The Lancet in October 2006, by David A. Grimes, Janie Benson, Susheela Singh, Mariana Romero, Bela Ganatra, Friday E Okonofua, Iqbal H Shah. It is part of The Lancet Sexual and Reproductive Health Series.

Ending the silent pandemic of unsafe abortion is an urgent public-health and human-rights imperative. As with other more visible global-health issues, this scourge threatens women throughout the developing world. Every year, about 19–20 million abortions are done by individuals without the requisite skills, or in environments below minimum medical standards, or both. Nearly all unsafe abortions (97%) are in developing countries. An estimated 68 000 women die as a result, and millions more have complications, many permanent. Important causes of death include haemorrhage, infection, and poisoning. Legalisation of abortion on request is a necessary but insufficient step toward improving women’s health; in some countries, such as India, where abortion has been legal for decades, access to competent care remains restricted because of other barriers. Access to safe abortion improves women’s health, and vice versa, as documented in Romania during the regime of President Nicolae Ceausescu. The availability of modern contraception can reduce but never eliminate the need for abortion. Direct costs of treating abortion complications burden impoverished health care systems, and indirect costs also drain struggling economies. The development of manual vacuum aspiration to empty the uterus, and the use of misoprostol, an oxytocic agent, have improved the care of women. Access to safe, legal abortion is a fundamental right of women, irrespective of where they live. The underlying causes of morbidity and mortality from unsafe abortion today are not blood loss and infection but, rather, apathy and disdain toward women.

Federal Conservatives drop effort to get New Brunswick to comply with Canada Health Act

New Brunswick continues to to restrict abortion to hospitals with multi-doctor approvals, even though they are in contravention of the Canada Health Act.

March for Women's Lives

April 25, 2004:


More than 1.15 million people turned up in Washington DC to march for women's lives and preserve their health-care options by keeping abortion legal.