Do not let the media label obstetrician gynecolgists as "abortion docors"
.
My father , Dr. Marvin Rosner performed the first legal abortion in Illinois in 1971 before Roe Vs Wade became the law of the land and like Dr. Tiller he was often referred to IN THE MEDIA as an "abortion doctor " or simply an "abortionist". My father was a dedicated ob/gyn. He loved nothing more than delivering a baby. He office was filled with pictures of "his kids". There is no field of medicine that more disrupts your life than being an obstetrician. He was often out in the wee hours since you could not expect a patient to make an appointment for delivering their child. There was even a family friend whose baby ( now 30) is still referred to a the "Turkey child" since we had to cancel our Thanksgiving plans so he could stay and deliver her. Despite this he immediately was tagged as an "abortion doctor" even though this only constituted a tiny fraction of his work as ob/gyn.
My father was an early crusader for abortion rights. He and Dr.Tiller were part of a now vanishing breed of doctors who saw first hand the perils of "illegal" abortions. After his death 15 years ago my mother received a letter from a former patient. Actually she was brought into the emergency room of his hospital bleeding heavily from botched back alley abortion. My father not only took care of her , he took care of two police officers who tried to question her about her "crime' while she was recovering. He had them thrown out of the hospital ( you could do that in those days). Sadly doctors are losing their collective memory of those days. The current generation of doctors particularly those in politically conservative areas see abortions as a trouble making even dangerous and low paying procedure that is not worth the trouble. Abortion opponents have made abortion illegal by simply making it unobtainable in huge swathes of the country.
When we allow The New York Times, CNN et all describe obstetrician gynecologists as 'abortion doctors" we desecrate the memory and work of Dr.Tiller, my father and many thousands of other dedicated doctors. We also give those who would take away the right of women to make their own health care choices a victory. There are no " abortion doctors. There are only doctors who provide care to patients in need.