Comments on: The Last Abortion Doctor

By: ema

ema — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 15:19:21 +0000

As one who hangs out with deliveryists, hysterectomyists, bladder suspensionists, total abdominal hysterectomy-bilateral oophorectomyists, and a few appendectomyists and root canalists I think it needs to be pointed out that “abortionist” does not refer to any medical specialty.

Just like with “partial-birth” abortion, the problem with “abortionist” isn’t that it’s not a pro-choice-approved word or that it is a loaded term; it’s that it is an inaccurate, propaganda word that has no place in a reality-based discussion. [Despite successful efforts from those who oppose proper medical care for pregnant patients, reality, in particular medical reality, does not depend on the perspective of the audience.]

And Jill, you did notice that the git who wrote the piece refuses to address Dr. Hern, and *only* Dr. Hern, as “doctor”, yes?

By: SunlessNick

SunlessNick — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 18:23:14 +0000

Sorry… should we really cede the word to those people?

By: SunlessNick

SunlessNick — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 18:22:33 +0000

Also, other kinds of doctor are referred to by their specialties: oncologist, neurologist, surgeon, pediatrician; I don’t see abortionist any differently. I know none of those other specialities have people calling for their deaths, but I don’t want to cede the word to those people.

By: Kathleen

Kathleen — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 16:20:52 +0000

I agree with Jill — we’ve reached a point in the discourse about abortion in the United States where it is treated as this freakish thing that cannot even be named, when it is the *most* common outpatient surgical procedure performed. 40% of American women will have one in their lifetimes. But somehow, everyone discusses it as a moral abstraction, and feels faint about calling it by name. In the 1970s and into the 1980s, an abortion could be a mentionable plot twist in a sitcom or movie. Now? Heaven forfend — the drama revolves instead around a miscarriage or “false alarm” (even an otherwise smart progressive show like 30 Rock dodged that bullet). And it *is* a bullet, as friends & family of George Tiller can tell us. Warren Hern performs abortions and gets lots of tributes of secret gratitude from women and men alike, and public excoriation as some kind of strange monster. How thankless a life, and what an unusually brave person.

By: Jill

Jill — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 14:55:34 +0000

The “abortionist” thing initially rubbed me the wrong way too, until it became clear that the author was using it for effect — the point was to use such a loaded term, and to juxtapose it with totally normal and kind doctorly (and human) things that The Abortionist was doing. I actually thought it was a good device in the context of the piece.

I think part of what the author was doing was to approach the story from the perspective of a layperson in the United States — i.e., a person who has internalized a lot of the right-wing talking points. Without that, the article isn’t as effective. If he approached the doctor using pro-choice-approved words and didn’t raise anti-choice talking points, what would the article do other than please already pro-choice people?

By: Julie

Julie — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 13:06:12 +0000

Yeah, but the thing that got me about the article Dr. Confused was that in a lot of the really hard cases- the fetuses with severe abnormalities- these women may very well think of themselves as mothers. I know I did- my labor was induced 2 and 1/2 months early because my son had multiple fatal abnormalities. Even though I ended my pregnancy early, I still considered him my son and myself a mother. I know a lot of women who felt the same way, they ended pregnancies with fetuses who couldn’t survive, but they still consider them their children. I even know quite a few of us who were able to hold our babies. I understand why Dr. Hern was fighting against that mindset, but I found myself frustrated by that whole back and forth between the two of them, because I thought the author was just trying to be an ass and Dr. Hern wasn’t acknowledging the full range of feelings women could go through. That being said, I think Dr. Hern is a hero, so I’m not willing to get that hung up on it.

By: Bakka

Bakka — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 17:32:15 +0000

Nationalized health care, it is kind of weird that you rely in your response on an issue that happened in Alberta, because this is one of the few Canadian provinces that has allowed for-profit medicine. So, actually I don’t support “Province couldn’t find even a single neo-natal IC bed” because the system in Alberta is one that has refused federal transfers for health funding in order to allow for-profit care. When Alberta fond oil, it became a rich province and decided it could afford to violate Federal Laws, since the punishment for this violation was merely the withholding of funds. So, actually, Alberta is not a very good example of the principles of the Canada Health Act, but is instead an example of a different system that violates the principles of the Canada Health Act. Check you facts.

By: Dr. Confused

Dr. Confused — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 08:34:19 +0000

I’m halfway through the article and already quite annoyed with the author. He keeps calling the patients “moms” despite being repeatedly corrected by the doctor. He throws out anti-choice talking points as interview questions.

By: Dawn.

Dawn. — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 07:52:42 +0000

An honest and exceptionally well-put article, Jill. It is so infuriating that we allow so much misinformation to pour from mainstream media, Fox News in particular. It means nothing to me when far-right lunatics like Bill O’Reilly “condemn” Dr. Tiller assassination (yes it was an assassination). You call someone a “Baby Killer” and accuse him of genocide on national television hundreds of times and then you act appalled when someone who believed it “avenges” the “babies”? WTF.

I agree with Bakka: If there are laws about truth in advertising, why are there no laws about truth in politics? Seriously. Why is there no fact-checking and no accountability?

Early this afternoon on CNN they were showing coverage of the anti-health care reform mobs at various town halls, and they had a man from a conservative coalition on, who literally lied several times about what “the American people are afraid of,” i.e. things that appear nowhere in any of the health care reform bills. I was honestly disgusted. I have no problem with people who disagree with me speaking their mind in a public forum. I do have a problem with people shitting in my hand and calling it a sundae.

By: Ouyang Dan

Ouyang Dan — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 05:33:19 +0000

A great and honest article…but seriously, I hate the term “abortionist”. For crying out loud, this person is a doctor who happens to perform abortions. Is it so hard to address him as such? I don’t think you can write a neutral piece on abortion if you are going to call the doctor an abortionist. It’s inflammatory and I think that it paints a picture of some bloodthirsty money crazed butcher, as opposed to a doctor who specializes in a particular branch of medicine to help women and families. *shrugs*