Surely this is not accidental: today's issue of the New York Times has an article entitled The Deadly Toll of Abortion by Amateurs. It's about the situation in Tanzania, where abortion is illegal "except to save the mother's life and health."
This will not surprise most of you--but out of desperation,
women and girls turn to amateurs, who may dose them with herbs or other concoctions, pummel their bellies or insert objects vaginally. Infections, bleeding and punctures of the uterus or bowel can result, and can be fatal.
As the article points out, many women must have hysterectomies as a result. Read the whole article to get a fuller picture of what goes on there.
Access to legal and safe abortions is not the only issue in Tanzania. It also has to do with inadequate knowledge about birth control and safe sex, and a social environment where people cannot speak frankly about sexual issues, as the article rightly emphasizes.
I believe it honors Dr. Tiller's courage and perseverance to use his tragic death as an opportunity to remind people about why sex education, family planning and yes, access to safe and legal abortions are so important for a healthy society. Women's lives are at stake. Obviously he believed in that principle, because he risked and ultimately gave up his life for it.
In that respect, I'm heartened to see the New York Times engaging in some timely consciousness raising. We need more real journalism like this.