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The Truth About Abortion
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Pro-life extremists imagine a country awash in abortions, but they are in fact much harder to procure than most people realize. Eric Alterman reveals the truth about abortions in America.
The Obama M.O. is to speak conspicuously respectfully of one’s opponents in order to preserve the illusion of bipartisanship, or even, potentially, consensus, in the absence of the real thing. But there can be no illusions about the violent sliver of the antiabortion movement that helped cause the murder of Dr. George Tiller, an OB-GYN who performed late-term abortions, and that refuses to condemn the act. Whatever one thinks about the issue of abortion itself—and my own views are quite conflicted—we can at least agree that the people who agree to perform these fully lawful acts are entitled to be protected against acts of domestic terrorism that threaten their lives. So too the women who, for whatever reason, feel they have no choice but to avail themselves of these doctors’ services.
If one merely imbibes the media coverage of the issue, one tends to get the impression that America is awash in abortions. The truth is that in most places in the United States abortions are technically legal, but they are often nearly impossible to obtain. A mere 13 percent of counties in the nation now offer the service.
Medicaid funding has restricted abortions for low-income women for nearly 30 years, and 11 states now restrict abortion coverage in insurance plans for public employees.
The state of Mississippi, for instance, home to nearly 3 million people, has a single abortion clinic. Meanwhile, the state’s counseling provisions also require that patients be told that abortion may increase the risk of breast cancer, despite the fact that the National Cancer Institute, the British medical journal the Lancet, and faculty members of Harvard Medical School have found no such link. Mississippi is also one of only two states that require a minor to get the consent of both parents to have an abortion (though if the minor has been impregnated by her father, she needs only the consent of her mother). Not surprisingly, it boasts the highest teen birth rate in America, which continues to increase, including, particularly, girls under the age of 15.
Mississippi may appear to be an extreme example, but it is not unusual: As of the end of 2005, it came in at eighth place on the honor roll of states that “defend life,” according to the rankings of the pro-life organization Americans United for Life. Elsewhere in America, Medicaid funding has restricted abortions for low-income women for nearly 30 years, and 11 states now restrict abortion coverage in insurance plans for public employees. Forty-three states require parental consent or notice before a minor obtains an abortion. Thirty-one states demand that women receive “counseling” before an abortion, and 18 offer it only in a misleading and frequently inaccurate form designed to scare them into changing their minds. Six states insist that this “counseling” be provided in person, ensuring at least two visits to the clinic.
(The purposeful lying done under the name of “abstinence education” in American schools is no help, either. European young people are about as active sexually as Americans, but they are not lied to about contraception in school. Teenage American girls are seven times as likely as French girls to have an abortion, for instance.)
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Eric Alterman is a professor of English and journalism at Brooklyn College and a professor of journalism at CUNY Graduate School of Journalism. He is the author, most recently, of Why We're Liberals: A Handbook for Restoring America's Important Ideals.
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Eric Alterman is a professor of English and journalism at Brooklyn College and a professor of journalism at CUNY Graduate School of Journalism. He is the author, most recently, of Why We're Liberals: A Handbook for Restoring America's Important Ideals.
FredInNH
Mr. Alterman, what would you have the President do?
Also, I don't trust your stats. Not that they're wrong, but you use words like "limit". You use "13% of counties". What a weird statistic. Why use counties? Seems natural that a small percentage of counties would have such services. In MS you use birth rate without referencing "pregnancy rate" which is the immediate question that comes to my mind.
As for Ashcroft, we can certainly agree he was a pox on the land, but someone should be collecting anonymous stats on abortion or else all the talk about limiting the need for abortion is just lip service. You can't understand what you can't measure.
I'm pretty far left of center, but I don't think your article helps advance the debate a millimeter.
Cheers.
pricklypear
Abortion hurts women.
Str8UpNoChaser
I tell you what Pricklypear, I'll consent to outlawing abortion on the same day that it becomes illegal for the father of the unborn baby to walk away and shirk the responsibility of helping to provide emotionally and financially for the child. Men don't have to have a procedure, they simply walk away and deny responsibility.
pricklypear
You've no argument from me on that. We agree.
DianeGall
Yes, it does. A great number of things hurt people. We let people decide for themselves which risks to take and which decisions they can live with.
Now let us decide for ourselves, like grownups who really care about each other.
xbainx
You stupid fucking moron.
socialworklady
You hurt women
socialworklady
pricklypear,
Amend to read:
You, and your anti-choice rhetoric hurt women. There is no doubt about it.
Lilyofthewest
If people want Abortion to be a safe and resonable means of murdering the unborn then move it into hospitals, provide it for those victims of molest, incest and rape, after a full police report has been filed. Make it seam at least a service to help the innocent. Until that happens there will be those who will desire to avenge all the innocent lives taken! What do you think the military is doing in IRAQ? Right or wrong?
ARTH2009
The pro-abortion activists have to make the moral case for keeping abortion legal and stop hiding behind the notion of "rights," "choice," and legalisms. They need to categorically state that the life of the mother is more important than the death of both the mother and the baby in such instances. They need to speak about the implications of an unwanted child being born, often into inadequate socioeconomic circumstance, but more important, an inadequate social environment. Yes, abortion is a women's rights issue, but it is so much more.
pricklypear
Why don't we all try to be civil and deal with this like grownups who really care about each other.
roger37
Agree completely. We need to find areas of common ground, then go from that to discuss ways to reduce the number of abortions. If we don't, then the "ban all abortion" people do their thing, the "abortion anytime" people do theirs, and we wind up with 35 more years of no progress.
I think that's what BHO was driving at at Notre Dame, and I think reasonable people should take this cue. I really don't mean this as a provocative statement to pricklypear or anyone else.
felixsama
That we are still debating this hurts women. It kills doctors. 13 counties in the whole US? Why is a 'conflicted' male even writing this article? Women should and will make this decision themselves. Wear your rubbers if you get lucky and then butt out.
And you aren't no pear, just a prick.
SIMIECOCOA
there just should be more scrutiny involved where abortion is dealt with on a case by case basis,so that it is never just for the sake of convenience but in cases such as yours where there is an obvious mental defect, or probable in-breeding there should be some leeway. you imbecile
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n--Y--wantingpricklypear
It is wrong to kill abortion doctors, obviously.
SIMIECOCOA
you are an IMBECILE
JackJack
Women have the right to choose, but doctors like Tiller who gleely performed and continue to perform late term abortions by drilling a hole in the back of baby skulls to drain all the life out of them.. need to rethink the process.
BasPos
Sorry, your blanket condemnation disqualifies your first statement.
JackJack
BasPos - you're wrong. Doctors who for whatever reasons, profit, business, decide to perform more than 60,000 late term abortions need to rethink the process.
Women have a right to choose - but let's hope they make educated choices.
JackJack
Sempronia - you think "government healthcare" will prevent late term abortions? Now, I know exactly your motive.. government healthcare.. are the taxpayers paying your mortgage, too?
roger37
Jack, I'd like to see a source for the number of 60K late term abortions, because I don't believe it.
Sempronia
Late-term abortions are not sought lightly -- they are performed on women who actually wanted children but, for whatever medical reason, now had their lives threatened by the pregnancy. There's nothing "gleeful" about that. It's an incredibly painful decision for women who otherwise wanted to become mothers, and people like Dr. Tiller made it possible for them to save themselves and their families in a manner that was as safe and comfortable as possible.
You want to reduce abortions? Proper contraception and education. But for the patients who went to see Dr. Tiller, this is an entirely different issue -- there must be safe and effective healthcare in this country for women who have to choose between their own lives and their pregnancies!
Seriously -- educate yourself!
JackJack
You're exactly right - doctors who have performed, inclucing Tiller more than 60,000 late term abortions and did so to profit and suggests his "gleeful - casual approach" was just fine. It is the doctor's process in which is shameful - and women need to rise up and make better choices - educate themselves. It's curious why K Sebulieus didn't do more to help educate women or at least these quack doctors.
Sure, there are cases where women need to make a last minute decision but you don't have a prayer to convince an audience that Tiller's 60,000 fetuses (not mention other abortion performers) were all women "who suddenly" changed their minds.
Seriously - educate yourself Sempronia!
Progressive2
JackJack
Let me just show you this quote
"He cited a WaTimes estimate that the doctor had performed "over 60,000 abortions" in his career, which spanned 35 years.
That works out to almost 2,000 per year. That six per day. Every day of the year. If you look at just traditional working days, we're talking TEN per day.
That's a pretty rigorous schedule, don't you think? maybe even a tad unrealistic. But that's okay; if you're Bildo, you don't need to make sense, you just need to rile up your "base"."
Do you realize that the number 60.000 is a flat out right wing nutjob lie?
Llplo99
Jack, nobody "gleely performed" late term abortions. Why don't you go do some real research as to why these pregnancies that were wanted and after much heartfelt thought and consideration had to be terminated. Most of the fetuses would not have live outside of the mother's womb or the mother's life was at risk.
jus1drun
this is where it gets foggy for me. how do you do this "research" on late term abortions? issues of privacy make the data unverifiable. still if someone has a suggestion for a reliable source please offer. one more point, it's none of my damned business if someone is aborting an nonviable mass of cells. on the other hand, if tiller's death is my business then so is a baby who would have been born viable as any other baby but had the misfortune of having it's brains sucked out that day even though the mother's life was not in danger. maybe that never happens and maybe murders never occur either.
NanaLenore
Do you even know how many 'late-term' abortions Dr. Tiller performed, or what the MEDICAL reasons for performing them were? Have you bothered to find out what percentage of the abortions Dr. Tiller performed were 'late-term'? I, for one, (and I am the mother of 5, grandmother of 12 and great-grandmother of 3) wouldn't have hesitated to terminate a pregnancy if my life had been threatened, or if the fetus I was carrying had no chance at life after birth. And I could support and encourage any of my daughters-in-law or granddaughters in the same decision.
jus1drun
you have a perfectly reasonable attitude to those of us without the weight of fundamentalist religious beliefs directing our opinions. but there is a hole in our safety net for fellow human beings who may be expended for questionable medical reasons. the fact that a second opinion is required on late term abortions is itself subject to abuse.
Uberjeff
JackJack-
What if the woman is having the late term abortion because the baby didn't develop a skull in the first place and would die within months of birth?
What if the woman's life is threatened by carrying the pregnancy to term?
You are obviously speaking from a place of uninformed ignorance and have never had to deal with this difficult question either personally or through any of your close friends and family. Personally I hope you never have to deal with it as it's not something I'd wish on even the most horrible of persons.
What I do hope is that people in your position will make even the slightest attempt to see past their own narrow ideology, inform and educate themselves and try to have even the slightest compassion for their fellow human beings.
roger37
I know a woman whose second child died as a fetus, and she was forced to carry the fetus for a week, if I remember correctly. She kind of knew the fetus was dead, and it made her an emotional basketcase.
Don't know if it's true, but I think that banning late term abortions requires this sort of thing.
Sempronia
Nice try putting words into my mouth. You said the thing about health care -- and quite frankly, bring it on. It's better than this idiotic, tyrannical system we have now.
As for Tiller, he would have rejected women who "suddenly changed their minds" -- the point is to provide safe healthcare for women for whom childbirth has become a mortal risk! We aren't talking about women who made sudden, stupid decisions. This is about real life needs, not ideological drivel.
But if you want to talk about the majority of abortions, maybe if the government wasn't wasting money pushing useless "abstinence only" sex ed, and giving girls real-life facts, there would not be anymore abortions.
Of course, it all begs the question of why I'm even talking to you? You seem so awash in puritanical ideology that there isn't any room for discussion! My mortgage? Please? I'm too busy working for the government to subsidize my education.
Hawnzz
If we did a decent job with sex education in this country we wouldn't have nearly as many abortions. The whole point is to avoid unwanted pregnancies, not terminate them.
This event is unforgivable.
I as a man know, (unless the child is half mine) that I should just sit down and be quiet. I'd love to have this voted on one final time. But only by women of child bearing years...
Str8UpNoChaser
But we all know the sad truth about why sex education is such a no no right? The religious right is stuck in the middle ages when it comes to sex. You're not supposed to like it. You're not supposed to desire it. You're not supposed to have it outside of marriage. To make matters worse, even after you're married you're still only supposed to do it in order to "be fruitfula nd multiply". The basic message is to submit to your husband and allow him to "roll on top of you and do his business". Is it really 2009? I almost feel like I'm supposed to be wearing a corset and using a horse and buggy to take me to the mercantile. Jeesh.
pricklypear
You are exaggerating. I sense your frustration, though. Sex has its place. And when it is within a committed marriage, it is best. There is more to life than shucking off you clothes and getting it on with another. Don't get me wrong, human sexual, 'erotic' love is one of the BEST things in life, especially with the one you've picked to be your one and only. When we ask people to abstain it is because the extra-marital sex can deliver other problems and misery. When we tell people to keep sex special, we must encourage them to replace that impulse with other good things like getting an education, developing your mind, your talent, helping others.
kscr14
So is it fact or not that late term abortions are to save the mothers life?Do the pro life activist at least agree that to save the mothers life it is ok?I am uneducated on this fact.
Llplo99
Sometimes the fetuses are only still living because it is connected to the mother. There are some conditions where the brain, skull, or even some vital organs were never formed and the fetus would die soon after it was born. In those cases, how can you ask a woman to continue carrying the fetus to term? If after knowing that the fetus has such grave defects, and if the woman is forced to carry it to term, she will have to keep enduring the well intended wishes and comments of people around her while knowing that the baby is just on life support with no chance of recovering. What hell it must be for someone who really wanted this pregnancy (which most of these late term abortions were) to have to go through.
pricklypear
The mother's survival is paramount. I do not know how the medical professionals make that decision.
roger37
I wish that it were confined to that, but most anti-abortion activists (I am not one but question abortion) don't stop there. Many pro-lifers want to also ban contraception, and their agenda goes back to womens' role as being kept "barefoot and pregnant."
At least that's what the strong pro-choice people will tell you. So where does it stand? If we all knew, then the decision to deal with this issue wouldn't be so difficult. But as with all zealots, both sides obscure the issue with extremism.
muddog
Abortion is leagal and will stay so.
I ask those on the "Pro LIfe" side, where is / was your outrage as babies were dying in Iraq with your tax dollars?, where was your outrage when kids were / are getting hacked to death in Darfur?, where is your outrage about the G.O.P. cutting social services to the poor who have kids and babies?, where is your outrage over the declining health of the planet?.
When your rage is focused on the fetus and stem cells but the living can die by the tens of thousands I dont buy your empathy......
Women should and will have control over their own bodies.
pricklypear
I agree there are many reasons to be outraged. It means you have a heart when you recognize suffering in Iraq, Darfur, and some places in America. But, instead of giving up on everything, pick something you can do to make things better. Do something that makes a positive difference.
muddog
If that is the case then Conservatives are equally outraged @ Bush for the Iraq war?.
pricklypear
Yes, muddog, if you recall there many conservatives who thought it was wrong to start the war in Iraq. The Holy father, Pope John Paul II openly discouraged Bush from this unjustified war in Iraq.
ella04
This article paints pro-life advocates with the broad brush of extremism - shame on the author for misrepresenting a large portion of the American population.I am anti-abortion and let me tell you, it's shootings like this that make me angry. It runs contrary to the platform of MOST pro-life groups. I'll admit that there are extreme fringe groups...but please, let's not assume that now just because one is pro-life, they are suddenly a domestic terrorist.
Llplo99
Ella, here is where you can help to get Pro-life advocates from being painted with one broad stroke. Go tell your other pro-life advocates to start speaking out against people like O'Reilly and to denounce their tactics. It hurts your cause and image when abortion doctors and others who work on women's health issues are violently attacked. Unfortunately, the fringe are very vocal and violent, especially on the right. Constructive dialogues on reducing unwanted pregnancies and developing programs to deal with adoptions if an unwanted pregnancy was carried to term, and similar programs coming from pro-life groups will be a positive step to helping their cause instead of focusing on the religious aspects or when is it a life arguments (those arguments will not work on pro-choice people). Like Pres. Obama said during his speech at Notre Dame, there are issues that both sides will never agree on but we can find some commonality and work together towards a goal such as reducing abortions.
TriDel
Adoption, of course is an option. However, being pregnant is quite expensive. How is a teenager in high school supposed to pay for medical bills, proper nutrition, vitamins? Sadly, in some cases abortion is the only option because of the high expense of carrying pregnancy to term. I think there needs to be a better system for women and girls who choose adoption.
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n--Y--misterdonJLF1200
I have no sympathy here. Your movement does nothing to oust the so called "fringe," and only now does it feign outrage to soften the backlash from the sane. Where were all these supposed voices of reason before Tiller was killed? That's right, they kept quiet and just winked and nodded.
Get off the fence and stop pretending Tiller's death was such a surprise to you. The language of the Pro Life movement has made this a predictable outcome. If you honestly believe abortion is murder then murdering a "mass murderer" probably makes perfect sense in your whacked out head. Reconciliation with the "other side" is just as likely for al Qaeda as it is for Pro Lifers; both groups are rabid with zealotry.
jafi12
http://www.aheartbreakingchoice.com/index.html
http://www.amazon.com/Our-Heartbreaking-Choices-Interrupting-Much-Wanted /dp/0595530478
Most late term abortions are a tragedy where a couple is faced with a wrenching decision regarding a baby they wanted. May those of you who are so condeming never be faced with such a terrible situation.
"Gloria Gonzalez, who learned that the twins she was carrying were gravely ill and threatening her own health. "As a Christian and a married woman who desperately wanted a child, I'd never given much thought to abortion. Like many others, I assumed that only women with unwanted pregnancies had the procedure." Yet after she and her husband consulted with several doctors and their pastor, "We knew what we had to do. Letting the girls die on their own didn't seem like an option, because we believed they were suffering while endangering my own health."
http://www.barryyeoman.com/articles/gina.html
http://www.salon.com/mwt/broadsheet/feature/2009/06/01/late_term_abortio n/index.html
jafi12
Watch for the line wrap on the Salon URL
www.salon.com/mwt/broadsheet/feature/2009/06/01/late_term_abortio/index. html
badaboombadabing
I agree with what Muddog says.
Although I would not get an abortion myself, that is my personal oppinion and I have no right to force it on someone else. If you don't approve of abortion, then don't ever get one ! However, the option should be there.
NanaLenore
Those anti-sex education/abstinence only proponents seem to believe that the Wages of Sin (i.e., having sex) are pregnancy, at least for the woman (or girl). Pregnancy carries the risk, however small (thanks to modern medicine) of death only for the woman. And far too many men don't consider the possibility of pregnancy, because they won't have to deal with the consequences of the pregnancy. Abortion law, because it only applies to women, should be MADE by women. I believe that it was Gloria Steinem, many years ago, who said that if men got pregnant, abortion would be a Sacrament.
muddog
Lest face it, it's easy for the wingnut base to tell others what to do. They scream "Pro Life" and then support war mongering thugs like Cheney and Bush.
The same "Pro Life" crowd does not mind that the G.O.P Consistantly votes against the poor and for the rich, how many kids and ababies have paid a price for inadequate health care?.
Spare me the pro life stance, if a living beathing child is less important than a stem cell or fetus you have no morals.
pricklypear
If there is suffering and we fail to alleviate it, then be quiet about any of it. You have an all or nothing argument. I agree, there are many kids who are hungry and ill-educated in this country. Maybe you could help an underprivileged family in you community. Tutor a child. Give a scholarship to a needy student.
Find a charity who are doing great things for those in need. Give a helping hand. You will bring some joy into your life and someone else.
pricklypear
I disagree about "the wages of sin" part. I don't get that vibe from the pro-life section of our population. Pro-life means all human life is sacred. That is why the murder of Dr. Tiller is wrong. Taking a life to get my way is wrong.
I think pro-life people think we should protect the most vulnerable, those who cannot speak for themselves, the unborn.
I think it is convenient to wrap it up in the guise of "a woman's right to choose". It let's the man off the hook. And it gets rid of "unwanted children" who might put a "burden" on the earth, on society. In many cases women feel they have no choice other than abortion.
I just want to make it more likely and acceptable for women and men to Choose life.
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n--Y--wantingOzone69
Does domestic terrorism include the Muslim who killed one US soldier and wounded another in Little Rock yesterday? Or the other Muslim terrorists who terrorized the Washington DC area for 3 weeks in 2002, killing 11 and critically wounding 3?
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n--Y--wantingOzone69
It helps a lot. The tragedy of Katrina, thanks for reminding me btw, is an example of government not doing its best for the people it represents. According to an evacuation plan drawn up in the wake of a simulated Category 3 Hurricane (Pam) in July of 2004, the state of Louisiana and the city of New Orleans were clearly not prepared to evacuate their citizens when Katrina struck. Under the disaster plan, preparations for the storm should have begun at least three days before it made landfall. With Katrina, New Orleans ordered a mandatory evacuation 20 hours before the storm struck. FEMA officials were supposed to have critical resources in place before landfall. (That would be the federal government's fault). Though city and state government authorities were primarily responsible for evacuating people, the disaster plan notes that Louisiana "had identified a shortage in resources required to evacuate and support shelters." (that would be the city and the state's fault). Long known as an American murder capital, New Orleans also has the highest rate of overall crime in the country. It's interesting to compare these urban cities when faced with disaster with areas of the mid-west ravaged by snow and rain catastrophes. No looting and violence in those parts. Hmph? Wonder why?
Zugzwang
It his motive was to spread terror--which I think it was--then yes, you can call him a terrorist. No different then the men who were arrested in New York recently.
Personally, I think the fear of domestic terrorism is the work of over-active liberal imaginations right now, though surely once in a while those fears are justified. It's the left-wing parallel to some conservatives who see terrorists in any and every Muslim who dislikes the United States for its foreign policies.
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