Viewpoint: How Making Abortion Illegal Doesn't End Abortion

This piece, forwarded to me by a friend, is an amazing and yet short piece. It is one man's take, as a retired-gynecologist, on the problem with making abortion illegal. I often think the hanger symbol doesn't capture today's youth. Maybe they just haven't heard from the right people.

Have the views you may, you can't deny that this guy is right: abortion is going to happen no matter what the law is. The only way to ensure the safety of all is to legalize (and really to stop demonizing and pushing it to clinics instead of a procedure available in every doctor's office and hospital) abortion. As Mr. Fielding says:

It is important to remember that Roe v. Wade did not mean that abortions could be performed. They have always been done, dating from ancient Greek days.

Reminder: pro-choice just means that you agree with the availability of a safe and medically secure procedure for those who wish to pursue it. Supporting and defending Roe is of utmost importance. Mr. Fielding said it best himself:

What Roe said was that ending a pregnancy could be carried out by medical personnel, in a medically accepted setting, thus conferring on women, finally, the full rights of first-class citizens — and freeing their doctors to treat them as such.

Really NARAL? Really?

It's no secret that I support Obama. Call me an Obamabot or an Obamacrat or whatever. Don't care. I support him and that's my choice. Regardless, I don't dislike Hillary Clinton. I have my issues with her campaign, but she has always been a strong voice for issues near and dear to me, namely healthcare and choice.

So imagine my surprise when I get an e-mail from NARAL saying that they've decided that now is the time to chose Obama over Clinton.

First of all, though they are slight differences and he is still pro-choice, Hillary is far more the advocate for the choice movement than Obama. Secondly, what do they think their endorsement does right now? They claim it stops McCain from getting a free ride on choice, but honestly, why couldn't they have just done a special issue campaign focusing on his shitty choice record?

I just think that this was a weird thing to do and sadly, more than ever, tears the feminist community even further apart.

So far on their blog entry there are 791 comments. I thought I'd make 792...but in between my typing it jumped to 875. 90% of them are not fans of the choice.