I can almost always count on my old hometown newspaper, a paper that I used to deliver as a kid, to include some sensationally foolish right-wing opinion from the letter writers in the area. I used to write to the paper to counter the local rant & ravers until I moved out west. Since I don't live there anymore, and because I don't want to pepper the editorial staff with letters, I only have a look once in a while. I can scarcely resist the urge to respond to this barrel of fish.
One set of details that are not well known involves the medical procedure that is conducted for abortions at the three- to six-month point of a woman's pregnancy.
The writer evidently believes that people need to be more informed about the facts of abortion, which naturally leads into an explanation of a D&E procedure, a perennial favorite among anti-abortionists; they like the gross-out factor.
And this is where the facts bear some gruesome details. So that the abortion can be completed, the abortion doctor has to employ forceps to dismember the baby in the womb.
As a civil nation, we can no longer ignore these details.
Of course, the writer assumes that people must be ignorant of such details, or else such procedures wouldn't be allowed to go on, I suppose. Never mind the detail that anti-abortionists take every opportunity to publicize them. They seem to take some perverse pleasure in depicting the most stomach-turning aspects of it. A simple Google search for 'anti abortion poster' turned up a webpage that I am not going to link, but if I can describe it as pictures of bloody dismembered remains for sale as signage, posters, or even business cards, well...I hope that's enough.
So, the only way the American public could possibly be ignorant of such details would be to avoid the anti-abortion movement entirely...not that I'd blame them. But another detail that the writer chooses to ignore is how often procedures like this are called for. A quick look here (Wikipedia should be safe to look at!) reveals that the vast majority of abortions take place in the first trimester.
Another interesting detail overlooked by the writer: when procedures like these take place, why do they? The Wiki article includes the results of a 1987 study. Considering what anti-abortionists have been up to in the last 25 years, perhaps it's time to update a study like this and get the details.
* 71% Woman didn't recognize she was pregnant or misjudged gestation
* 48% Woman found it hard to make arrangements for abortion
* 33% Woman was afraid to tell her partner or parents
* 24% Woman took time to decide to have an abortion
* 8% Woman waited for her relationship to change
* 8% Someone pressured woman not to have abortion
* 6% Something changed after woman became pregnant
* 6% Woman didn't know timing is important
* 5% Woman didn't know she could get an abortion
* 2% A fetal problem was diagnosed late in pregnancy
* 11% Other.
Talk about details not to be ignored! Who might be responsible for the 5% of women who didn't even know they could get an abortion? Who are the ones putting pressure on women to not abort? Who are the ones making it harder to get an abortion? Who are the people these women are afraid of? Back to you, letter writer:
As a civil nation, we can no longer ignore these details.
So, are anti-abortionists who make it more and more difficult for women to get abortions, in fact, causing more late-term abortions to happen? Are they the cause of their own dismay? Are they the problem. Details worth considering, to be sure. And after such consideration, I am writing a letter to denounce this fellow today.