Contempt for Women Threatens Their Doctors

Many women and their families are grateful for their lives to the few like Dr. George Tiller, without whom they could not have resumed life with their families.

Most often, contempt for women drives zealots on the right, who frame issues around reproduction to control, demonize and intimidate women and their doctors. As it turns out, abortion is about much more than the pretense of concern for life. A comparable standard applied to males would control or outlaw each ejaculation of approximately 300 million sperm, every sperm representing potential life.

The intent of efforts to outlaw late-term abortion, where fetal anomalies often render the fetus incapable of survival, is to sensationalize the most tragic of situations while rendering women invisible and their doctors vulnerable.

The greatest conceit of the right is the denial that pregnancy is a health issue for women. As a nurse in the pre-Roe early '70s, I encountered two women who died as a result of pregnancies that were contraindicated for health reasons -- one had chronic heart disease, the other acute kidney disease.

Late-term abortion has been termed by ultraconservatives "infanticide" and "elective," said to be used "for everything from time lost at work to a headache" to a fetus with a cleft palate or a woman who is "mildly depressed." The late Rep. Henry Hyde (R-IL) branded one woman who had undergone an emergency procedure an "exterminator." There is no shortage of inflammatory language on the right.

Rep. Rosa deLauro (D-CT), whose prenatal tests indicated the fetus she carried had severe genetic problems, described the procedure that the right calls "partial-birth" abortion "the least horrific of truly horrendous alternatives."

"I was full of piety and self-righteousness on this issue until it happened to my family," commented a previously right-to-life Colorado legislator, whose daughter suffered a traumatic pregnancy. Her infant was born with a large fistula (opening) in her throat that prevented proper breathing without an emergency tracheotomy. Numerous other problems, including the need for a heart transplant, precluded her long-term survival. Had the family known, they would have considered late-term abortion to save the infant the suffering of her short three weeks of life. "I have been wrong. The state legislature has no place in that delivery room. It is for the family to make these decisions. These terrible, terrible decisions," said the legislator.

Testifying at the Colorado legislature in 1996, Dr. Warren Hern described the tragic circumstances of women seeking late-term procedures, typically after referral by three or four different physicians. Conditions included severe fetal anomaly, genetic disorder or fetal death, as well as immediate risk to a woman's life, sometimes complicated by diabetes, heart disease, kidney disease, etc.

Three cases described by Dr. Hern:

1) One woman was diabetic, suffering from hyperemesis gravidarum (uncontrollable vomiting from pregnancy). Literally starving to death, her blood chemistry was severely out of balance, to the point that her heart could stop momentarily. Profoundly dehydrated, she was flown to Colorado from Rapid City, S.D. and almost died enroute. Without an abortion she would have died. She began an immediate recovery following the procedure.

2) A woman whose fetus had a severe genetic disorder, in turn causing serious disease of the placenta that resulted in an alarming rise in the woman's blood pressure. Her main body systems began to shut down, with no urine output, out-of-balance electrolytes and pulmonary edema (fluid in the lungs) resulting in difficult breathing. The enlarged placenta blocking the uterus threatened catastrophic bleeding. Having been crossmatched for blood, the woman deteriorated rapidly, and required emergency intervention to save her life.

3) A woman whose fetus had a severe anomaly complicated by too much amniotic fluid surrounding the fetus (polyhydramnios), suddenly developed abruptio placenta (separation of the placenta from the uterus) and went into shock. Bleeding to death into the uterus, emergency surgery was required. A nurse held her fist on the patient's aorta to keep her from bleeding to death, as the patient lost three units (1-1/2 quarts) of her blood during the procedure.

In crisis, there is no time to induce labor and wait for normal delivery, and the choice must often be made to act quickly.

God bless Dr. Tiller and console his family.

And heal the deep strain of arrogance, violence and abuse in the U.S.

Comments

[Bobrobert]

Oh my....

Simplify...

Woman can and do make decisions for their own bodies... abortion is legal.

Woman can and do make decisions for the bodies of their children... abortion is legal.

One fact that will always stare us in the face is that each and every abortion results in the death of a child and that child is dicarded in the trash.

No one can force any woman to bear her child if she doesn't want to... abortion is legal.

Abortion being legal does NOT change the fact that every abortion results in the death of a child and the child is then discarded in the trash.

I cannot and will not force my will upon any woman, I cannot and will not judge any woman who has had an abortion.

I only point out that each and every time a child is aborted that child goes out with the trash... everyone knows the child goes out with the trash.

[been2there]

I once spent three years working to develop a good human reproduction curriculum. I learned a painful lesson-- it really is about control of women.

[Bobrobert]

How can we control woman.... woman rule!!!

[JuliaRain]

FACT: Many men have been doing it for centuries and still try to.

[demfriend]

There are a multitude of reasons for an abortion other than a desire not to have that baby. Health reasons are the majority but we have to add in rape and incest as the top reasons too. I could go on and make the list but any resonable person could also make the list. But the split here is "reasonable" as too many cannot be reasonable about abortion. It to many is black and white and for many it is black and white for someone else as they would "never have an abortion" themselves. Fine don't have one but there are too many other women who need the right to have an abortion for the reasons I stated above and more. I had a "missed abortion" at 16 weeks where the wanted baby died inside of me and I had to have the procedure done to not have the dead baby stay in my body for my health. I had another baby whose 3 yrs were full of pain and misery from uncontroled seizures which killed her. I did not want another one and some would have me not have that choice......

[power1]

Are you kidding, Libs trash women as bad as anyone. At least they do if that woman is a conservative.

[tbone99]

and now Anti -woman building codes

A quiet war against abortion rights is being conducted by many local governments in the United States. Cities and counties are placing repressive legal restrictions on abortion providers under the guise of women"s health laws.
These legal ordinances are known as TRAP laws - Targeted Regulation of Abortion Providers. These laws attempt to restrict all aspects of the physical environment related to an abortion. While called women"s health laws, they are seldom applied to any medical facility other than abortion clinics. The goal of TRAP laws is to discourage and make extremely difficult a woman"s legal right to choose abortion. In the words of one right-to-life leader, the idea is to create an environment "where abortion may indeed be perfectly legal, but no one can get one."

TRAP laws have been passed in at least 15 states .Complying with TRAP laws can be very expensive. Remodeling modifications such as hallway width, angle and jet types for drinking fountains, ceiling height, doorway width, counseling room dimensions, air-circulation rates, outdoor weed-control practices, and separate changing rooms for men have resulted in the closing of cash-poor abortion clinics.Often the clinic is forced to cease operating altogether.

[dayala]

you are so right Michelle, these anti-women demagogues could care less about unborn babies it is about control and dominion over women's bodies and their sexuality.

they fear our power and independence.

[Just Margaret]

A well written and presented piece...thank you Michele.

[Berettasskeeter]

Contempt for women? Where are those on the Left when it comes to the outrages against women in the dictatorships of the Middle East? Usually, they are nowhere to be found! Instead, it is the Right that expresses its outrage. Where is NOW? NOWhere to be found.
Please, contempt for women is only expressed on the Left, just as is contempt for racial minorities, the South and southerners, the mid-West and mid-westerners, etal. It is the Right, and conservatives, that attempt to stand up for all without choosing whether it is politically correct to do so.
Semper fi

[JuliaRain]

You are living in "opposite world".

[Berettasskeeter]

How? By pointing out the hypocrisy of NOW? By pointing out that comments by conservatives are almost never demeaning or degrading to minorities, while Liberal/Leftists are often demeaning/­degrading? How is that "opposite world"??
Semper fi

[Just Margaret]

Actually, NOW is way too busy trying to further the cause of women to respond to preposterous positions such as yours.

And last I checked, my own local right wingers have been busting *ss to remove my rights to make decisions about MY body.

[Berettasskeeter]

Wow, furthering the cause when the cause suits them, as I see it. But not when it may suit the causes of anyone but Liberal/Leftist women!
Semper fi

[meko]

There are global feminism projects sponsored by the National Organization for Women. They are easy to find. http://www.now.org/issues/global/index.html