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HERALD Columnist |
The practice of abortion today is a far cry from what Roe vs. Wade had in mind, and abortionists know it.
Dr. Warren Hern, who wrote a medical textbook on how to do abortions, said the following at the 18th Annual meeting of the National Abortion Federation: "I have to say this: There's a lot of crummy medicine being practiced out there in providing abortion services, and I think that some of the stuff I see coming across my desk is very upsetting ... We have to do this right or we shouldn't do it."
That's almost as reassuring as the words of Dr. Edward Allred, owner of a chain of abortion facilities performing some 60,000 abortions per year: "Very commonly we hear patients say they feel like they're on an assembly line. We tell them they're right. It is an assembly line...We're trying to be as cost-effective as possible, and speed is important...We try to use the physician for his technical skills and reduce the one-on-one relationship with the patient. We usually see the patient for the first time on the operating table and then not again..."( "Doctor's Abortion Business is Lucrative," San Diego Union, Oct. 12, 1980: B1)
What many don't realize is that Roe vs. Wade didn't mean to leave the abortion decision only up to the woman. It decided, rather, that the "right to privacy" was broad enough to encompass abortion, which was to be practiced only after appropriate and sufficient consultation with a responsible physician. The Court said, "...Appellants...argue that the woman's right is absolute and that she is entitled to terminate her pregnancy at whatever time, in whatever way, and for whatever reason she alone chooses. With this we do not agree...The Court's decisions recognizing a right of privacy also acknowledge that some state regulation in areas protected by that right is appropriate. As noted above, a state may properly assert important interests in safeguarding health, in maintaining medical standards, and in protecting potential life... The privacy right involved, therefore, cannot be said to be absolute."
In reference to malpractice, Roe also said,
"If an individual practitioner abuses the privilege of exercising proper
medical judgment, the usual remedies, judicial and intra-professional,
are
available" (Roe at 166). Medical professionals
have also acknowledged these issues: "It is recognized that although an
abortion may be requested by a patient or recommended by a physician, the
final decision as to performing the abortion must be left to the medical
judgment of the pregnant woman's attending physician, in consultation with
the patient" (American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists: Committee
on Professional Standards, Standard for Obstetric-Gynecological Services,
1981).
Abortion is legal, but malpractice is not. My hunch is that if we crack down on the malpractice, abortion itself will decline. After all, you can't practice vice virtuously.
When we speak of these things, the abortion industry accuses us of "harassment."
That's a strange way to label efforts to protect women. Maybe it's time for supporters of Roe vs. Wade to reread it.
Father Pavone is the International Director of Priests for Life
and an official at the Vatican’s Council for the Family.
Contact Priests for Life at P.O. Box 141172, Staten Island, N.Y. 10314, Tel. 888 1PFL-3448, fax 718-980-6515, email pfl@priestsforlife.org, web site http://www.priestsforlife.org/.
Copyright ©1999 Arlington Catholic Herald, Inc. All rights reserved.
This article was published in the Arlington
Catholic Herald,
200 N. Glebe Rd., Suite 607, Arlington, VA 22203; Vol 24, No 20,
dated May 20, 1999, on page 5.
.
E-mail:
letters@catholicherald.com
Fax: 703/524-2782;
Editorial: 703/841-2590;
Advertising: 703/841-2594;
Circulation: 703/841-2565
A note from the Web Master:
It is noteworthy and honorable that some folks are willing to stand up for a ban on Partial-Birth Abortion. Let us not forget that ordinary everyday run of the mill abortion is also murder. We must understand that murder is murder no matter the method. Because one method of abortion seems to be horrible does not make the other methods less so. We should be horrified and sickened by any abortion regardless of the method. The Fifth Commandment spells it out clearly:
"Thou shalt not kill."
A fetus is a person, a human being with a God given soul. Imagine the pain the Lord must feel when any abortion occurs. Please contact both of your Senators and Representative, via letter or phone, to let them know how horrified you are that abortions are legal and to stop Partial-Birth abortions and all other abortions as soon as possible.
(It has become apparent that they do not respond to
email therefore you will have more of an impact by writing or telephoning.)
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