Abortion providers: Oriented toward service or profit?

Service

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by Alicia Alligood

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In order to comprehend the prime motivations of abortion-performing physicians, one must first make an attempt to understand the history behind the practice of abortions. It is not only essential to understand the practice from the perspective of educated doctors, but also the presence of (or lack of) abortion education in universities and medical schools.

It's no surprise that the notion alone provokes quite a fuss, but there is a very deep and very dark history of pregnancy termination in this country. Many are not aware of some of the events that have paved the path for the modern reality of abortion clinics. What are the factors which led to the way things are now? How has this impacted physicians, and furthermore, their clients?

In 1962 it became known that thalidomide, a drug used in the United States and more widely in Europe, resulted in the birth of several thousand infants with deformed or missing limbs: a condition called phocomelia. Sherry Finkbine of Arizona had been exposed to the drug, and requested an abortion. Regardless of the support from her physicians, the county's medical society did not grant the request. She fled to Sweden, where she could safely and legally pursue her decision.

Not every abortion-seeking female in this country has had the chance to flee to Sweden. Although in 1970 Alaska, Hawaii, New York, and Washington legalized abortions, it was not until 1973 that the "landmark decision" to legalize abortions in this country came about. And it was not just a matter of morals. The case to which I am referring, the Supreme Court case known as Roe v. Wade, raised issues which are still likely to be easily resolved. The "Roe" who recognized the law as "a right to liberty as guaranteed by the due process clause of the 14th Amendment": Norma McCorvey, a single pregnant female-protecting her privacy by becoming known as Jane Roe.

Now I come to what I suggest to be among the primary motivations for current abortion-performing doctors: the lives of all of the other Jane Roes that dealt with the same dilemmas prior to the legalization. People tend to find a way to get around restrictions enforced by the law. This held true even during an era when there was no such thing as a legal abortion from a certified doctor in the United States.

Hospital wards of the years before Roe v. Wade were receiving a rapidly increasing number of women who were injured or became sick trying to receive an illegal abortion. All over the country there were back-alley clinics and homemade termination tactics being sought. Women-young and old-were subjecting themselves to the harmful and humiliating realities because their limited reproductive rights left them with no other means (those unwilling to use adoption instead). Coat hangers were often used. Women probed other long and sharp instruments into their cervix. Douches were filled with bleach. All of the procedures employed were carried out by the individuals themselves as well as persons who ran secret clinics, having the audacity of charging people to exercise their ignorant attempts at abortion, with these self-taught methods. Some even operated having had absolutely no training, and did no research themselves. The potential outcomes of such behaviors held far more negative possibilities than good.

Legalization has had an enormous impact on the number of illegal providers in this country. As you can also imagine, it has also largely eliminated the estimated 5,000 abortion-related deaths that were occurring annually in the years prior to Roe v. Wade.

The motivation for (most) doctors moves from legality and morality, to safety. "I know what would happen if [anti-abortion activists] were successful politically-a lot more tragedy, a lot more deaths. I saw what it was like when it was illegal...we have saved tens of thousands of lives, maybe hundreds of thousands." This is the opinion of David Bingham, a 57-year-old OB-GYN who has been performing abortions since his residency. He once had to remove the uterus of a 16-year-old because of gas gangrene, which was the outcome of an improperly performed illegal abortion she had received. He said it was 'hard' knowing she would never have a family. Many abortion providers share his opinion.

Something else they share? In Jack Hitt's 1998 article entitled, "Who Will Do Abortions Here?," he states that a whopping 59 percent of doctors performing the procedure are at least 65 years of age. Nearly 2/3 of physicians are beyond the legal age for retirement! Why is Bingham among the youngest of his kind?

Alexander Nicholas was a resident in the hospitals of Chicago in the 1960's. Many a time he witnessed "survivors of botched abortions" limp or be carried in. "They were bleeding, had foreign bodies in their vagina, or came in with temperatures of 106." He feels that younger physicians do not understand this reality, simply because they never experienced it as he did, in an era when illegal abortions were doing a lot of physical damage to women.

Not only do these young physicians and students lack experience, they're not being educated in the matter. A 1991 study revealed that only 12% of hospital residency programs for OB-GYNs routinely teach abortion. The medical school of UCSF's Phillip Darney even stated that this percentage is still moving downward.

With doctors who were around previous to the Roe v. Wade movements continuing to age well into their anticipated retirement, this country is losing professionals who have a more founded understanding of the realities associated with the practice of abortions. Furthermore, future doctors currently in training are rarely receiving the education to provide safe, healthy abortions in the future.

My final point is to consider that the physicians who currently perform abortions, much like the women previous to 1970-1973, are facing heavy risks themselves. Many receive hate mail, much of which includes direct threats. In 1993 and 1994 five abortion doctors and staff members were murdered, and these are not the only murders of the sort. Some operate under surnames, and others even wear bullet-proof vests. A Canadian doctor was shot dead through his window while he ate dinner in his home. A photo of Alexander Nicholas's plane circulates around sites for anti-abortionists, and he has received phone calls from persons asking how his plane is flying. What a risk to associate oneself with.

With most of the current abortion providers being those over 65, motivated by the harsh realities they had the opportunity to observe and exposed to the serious threats from anti-abortionists, I think it's quite safe to say that they are in the business not for profit, but rather for service. They operate from an educated historical and medical perspective. A young life lost is bad enough. A young life lost AND a young woman's body subject to mutilation is another story. Many of these physicians would refer to their practice as a form of preventative medicine.

The only question left to consider is, with the rate at which abortion education is quickly diminishing, what will happen in our nation once the current providers move on?

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