Bad Politics Making Abortion Unsafe And Definitely Not Rare

My daughter who is 9 months pregnant came home from the doctor's office with a sonogram picture of my 9th grandchild. At the same time the headline in a local paper reported that New York City is the biggest provider of late term abortions which are legal here. Parents bring their daughters here to snuff out the lives of their in utero grandchildren unconcerned with sonograms or the fact that they may never ever enjoy the wonders of grandparenthood. I can't remember exactly how many pro-life columns I've written warning of the dangers to women by the abortion industry but it is obvious that here in New York they carried no weight. Politicians here get elected with funds from women organizations that consider the abortion industry sacrosanct along with the woman's right to choose to kill her unborn child.

The arrest of Philadelphia abortionist, Kermit Gosnell for eight counts of murder including the deaths of 7 viable babies may change the dynamics of the debate but here in New York it is unlikely to make much difference. The Police raid on Gosnell's abortion clinic in January of last year was due to suspicion that the doctor had been selling illegal drugs to patients. Instead the raid uncovered filth and deplorable conditions along with a collection of aborted babies dating back 30 years. Authorities had ignored numerous complaints about the clinic for years and it is ironic that it was the politics of a pro-choice Republican Governor, Tom Ridge, which stopped the inspections of abortion facilities and allowed Dr. Gosnell to operate what investigators are calling, "a house of horror."

In November of 2009, a Bhutan refugee Karna Mongar went for the abortion and, prior to it, was given numerous doses of pain and sedation drugs by an individual who was not a licensed medical practitioner. After experiencing severe cramping, she asked for additional pain medication. The unlicensed assistant contacted Gosnell, who instructed her to administer more doses. Mongar lost her pulse during the end of the abortion procedure and emergency personnel were called in and she was taken to the hospital where she was later pronounced dead. Two attorneys have filed a wrongful death and survival suit against Gosnell on behalf of her husband and children and the complaint alleges that Gosnell failed to provide proper care before, during and after the abortion, employed unlicensed personnel and lacked essential equipment to resuscitate Mongar.

Most people are appalled by the condition of Gosnell's clinic especially those who have read his arrest and the grand-jury case outlying details of the deaths of Mongar and of the babies born alive but I doubt seriously that New York politicians will be fazed by this as they go ahead with plans to make New York as deadly to women as Pennsylvania did.

Former Governor Eliot Spitzer introduced an extreme abortion bill, the Reproductive Health and Privacy Protection Act (RHAPP), into the New York State Legislature when he was in office and his successor Governor Paterson supported it as well. According to an Americans United for Life press release about RHAPP: "This bill will do anything but make abortions rare and safe in New York. On the contrary, the RHAPP will increase the number of abortions performed in New York and wipe out all existing health and safety abortion regulations. The RHAPP establishes the right to abortion as a "fundamental right," like the right to vote and the right to freedom of speech. Any and all health and safety abortion regulations would be invalidated as "discriminating" against this new fundamental right. For example, the RHAPP would invalidate current New York health and safety laws that require basic emergency equipment for abortions requiring anesthesia. The RHAPP would allow late-term abortions on fully formed infants for any reason whatsoever, or for no reason at all. The RHAPP would also authorize non-physicians to perform abortions - if the RHAPP were enacted, a dentist, social worker, or podiatrist could perform abortions on women. This authorization of untrained, unqualified persons to perform abortions unduly places the health and safety of women at severe risk."

Isn't that what happened in Dr. Gosnell's clinic? Yet what is the New York City Council doing? Why it's going after the abortion alternative clinics that provide pregnancy counseling and medical care for crisis pregnancies. The proposed bill #371 would censor only pro-life clinics and subject them to fines, lawsuits and jail time for failure to comply with its provisions. This bill is the brainchild of Planned Parenthood and NARAL-NY who are generous donors to the campaigns of pro-choice politicians.

The sad truth is that abortion advocates are not really interested in the well-being of pregnant women otherwise they would be trying to monitor what happens at these so-called women's health facilities. In Perth Amboy, New Jersey, A Planned Parenthood manager was caught on tape cautioning a man and woman posing as a pimp and prostitute how to get around getting abortions for their underage illegal aliens. Planned Parenthood is busy making the rounds denying the undercover video tape yet they fired the manager, Amy Woodruff, probably for getting caught doing business as usual.

Abortion is a billion dollar industry yet Planned Parenthood gets taxpayer funding. Although most of the politicians that get campaign donations from Planned Parenthood and NARAL are Democrats, pro-choice Republicans and Independents are just as responsible for the laxity in monitoring these merchants of death to women and the unborn.

Seven babies born kicking and screaming into this world had their lives ended with a scissors cutting their spines and here in New York City this is perfectly legal. The sophisticated intellectual elite who rule the media look down at us for respecting all life. They call our respect 'a love affair with the fetus' ignoring the victims of botched abortions like Karna Mongar and the long list of potential adoptions for those dead children. They probably all share the same cruel mindset of P.Z. Meyers, a biologist and Associate professor at the University of Minnesota who wrote on his blob, "Pharyngula" his disdain for anti-abortion zealots: "You want to make me back down by trying to inspire revulsion with dead baby pictures? I look at them unflinchingly and see meat. And meat does not frighten me."

No. Professor Myers. It is you and those who think like you who are frightening. C

Alicia Colon resides in New York City and can be reached at aliciav.colon@gmail.com and at www.aliciacolon.com