[Moved up in case you missed Dear Science‘s offer… Eds.]
…forward me (dearscience@thestranger.com) your receipt with a science question, and I’ll send you a brief personal response.
The cold-blooded slaughter of Dr. Tiller is a potential disaster of Kansan women. The late-term terminations of pregnancy he was bravely willing to perform in an ultra-hostile environment were life-saving for women in an otherwise impossible situation. Care providers are constantly asked to perform procedures that can be grim, unpleasant, ethically contentious and ultimately lifesaving and honorable. There is no such thing as a lightly undertaken late-term abortion.
From a JAMA article on late-term abortions:
Late abortions are fundamentally important to women’s reproductive health. Antenatal fetal diagnosis, such as maternal {alpha}-fetoprotein screening and amniocentesis, is predicated on the availability of induced abortion. Although techniques such as chorionic villus sampling and early amniocentesis have allowed earlier diagnosis, by the time results of midtrimester amniocentesis or ultrasound are available, a woman may be beyond 20 weeks’ gestation.
Ironically, the availability of late abortion is pronatalist. About 98% of women who undergo genetic screening receive reassuring news. Without the availability of prenatal diagnosis with abortion as an option, many of these women would not have become pregnant or would have aborted all pregnancies that occurred. As noted by Cook, “Macroethical reasons favouring legal abortion in such circumstances rest on the potential to do greater good than harm in the community, and reveal the positive, life-affirming aspects of legally available abortion services.”
Illnesses of women and fetal anomalies lead to requests for late abortions. Late abortion can be lifesaving for women with medical disorders aggravated by pregnancy. Conditions such as Eisenmenger syndrome carry a high risk of maternal morbidity and mortality in pregnancy, the latter ranging from 20% to 30%. In recent years, I have performed late abortions for a Kampuchean refugee with craniopagus conjoined twins and a 25-year-old woman with a 9 x 15-cm thoracic aortic aneurysm from newly diagnosed Marfan syndrome. Cancer sometimes makes late abortion necessary. For example, either radical hysterectomy or radiation therapy for cervical cancer before fetal viability involves abortion.
Incest and rape are other compelling indications. Pregnancies resulting from incest among young teenagers or among women with mental handicaps may escape detection until the pregnancy is advanced. Approximately 32000 pregnancies result from rape each year in the United States; about half of rape victims receive no medical attention, and about one third do not discover the pregnancy until the second trimester.
Some of the moral absolutists among us would like to pretend that such grim situations don’t exist—that young teenagers or the mentally handicapped aren’t raped or raped by family members, that the survival of a mother is at least as important as that of a fetus, or that things can horribly wrong in development. For the rest of us, the loss of brave and honorable Dr. George Tiller is a deeply saddening terrorist act against humanity. There will be more widowers, more motherless children and more misery in Kansas with his slaughter.
I dearly hope that some doctors or medical students out there have, upon reading this coverage, decided to follow in the courageous footsteps of Dr. Tiller and provide this vital service. May many more rise where he fell, that his death may not be in vain.
31,
Thank you for willingly providing complete care for all of your patients.
Sheryl @ 45,
Thank you for your kind words. I enjoy reading your comments and appreciate your insights as a fellow Christian.
@ 51,
Count me as one medical student who is suddenly very interested in specializing in women’s healthcare.
Kim in Portland, you are my favorite Slog commenter. I have actually learned useful things from your comments. I identified as a progressive Christian for many years, and reading your comments reminds me how important that community is. Thank you for continually speaking up.
@31 May you always be safe. Thank you for all you do. You are a hero. May your community and children recognize you as such.
@ 55 – here here. We should give her some kind of an award or something. She’s talked me off the ledge a couple times~
There are few things that outrage me as much as a woman’s access to health care and reproductive choice. This senseless murder of a hero is beyond disgusting. Even worse is the knowledge that there will be those who celebrate this as some sort of victory.
I’m not a doctor, a woman, or even someone who has been there with a partner, but I can still put my money where my mouth is: $100 to planned parenthood. I hope everyone considering will give, if nothing else but to show that killing a doctor will only cause us to rise up harder against such tragedy and support such choice for women even more.
That of course should be:
“few things outrage mas much as restricting a woman’s access to health care and reproductice choice”
Greendyke,
Thank you. I appreciate your kind words of encouragement.
NARAL and other groups are having a vigil tonight (June 1) at Cal Anderson at 6pm: http://www.prochoicewashington.org
Jason,
Thank you, for your kind words. You got yourself off of that ledge, because you know deep in your heart you have much to offer. Keep it up, my friend.
Fondly,
k
Click here to donate to Feminist Women’s Health Center, who operate Cedar River Clinics in Renton, Tacoma, and Yakima.
http://www.cedarriverclinics.org/pages/a…
The kindness and support of the community means a lot to me as a provider. All of you, too many to mention individually (I’d be afraid of missing one!), thank you. Having been preached at, yelled at, prayed for, shunned….well, this is sweet.
And to have people speaking out, giving money to clinics and planned parenthood, calling out the politicos and the Randall Terrys on their hypocrisy, on making their careers on women’s bodies, well that’s huge. If we ignore this right it will go away.
I love you guys!
@ 63 – I have SO MUCH respect for you. I can’t imagine how hard it would be (not to mention terrifying) to have to deal with this kind of stuff everyday. You’re a hero, my friend. Keep up the good work, and thanks for all that you do~
um, Jonathan? the article you linked is actually “Rationale for Banning Abortions Late in Pregnancy.” “The continuing need for late abortions” is linked as a ‘related article,’ but I thought you should know.
$100 to Cedar River Clinics right now. The fruitbats have been trying to shut them down for years, but they keep on doing what needs to be done.
What the antichoice fundies never admit is that making abortion illegal doesn’t prevent it. It never has. Women have always found ways to terminate unwanted pregnancies, and until those who oppose their doing so can take over the pregnancy for them, they always will. Making abortions unsafe and illegal just kills the woman. Real pro-life, that. Kind of like murdering a doctor.
@31 – thank you and please stay safe!
There’s an event right now – NOW – at that park near you guys on Capitol Hill in memoria of the slaughtered doctor by the Talibangelist hate-monger.
The overwhelming reason Tiller ever gave for late term abortions were social concerns! Get real and stop quoting rare exceptions which he never applied in his decision process. Google “Dr. Tillers abortion records exposed”
Wanna donate? Then donate to the defense fund of the Dude who Aborted Tiller the Baby Killer!
For all of you out there looking for further proof of Dr. Tiller’s compassion and courage and for those who aren’t quite convinced of the necessity of late term abortion options, read this excellent piece on Salon: http://www.salon.com/mwt/broadsheet/feat…
@63: It is a shame that you get to hear the bad more than the good – but there are a number of us who support you and the work you do. And when those among us say “we’re praying for you” you can be very sure that we are praying for your continued health, strength, good fortune, prosperity, and success.
The world needs people like you.
And you too, @54.
@ 68 – That kind of talk will get you tossed in jail. Which can’t happen soon enough for raving fucking psychopaths like yourself. Wow.
Jason @71 – you really should consider installing the unregistered commenter filter. It’s lowered my blood pressure considerably, and it makes Slog comments a hell of a lot easier to read.
If you’re as mad as I am, donate to Planned Parenthood–in Operation Rescue’s name. Better yet, in RANDALL TERRY’s name.
72 cont
…thru my rose colored reality shielding glasses.