A sober interruption

I know tons of bloggers have already commented on the murder of Dr. George Tiller so I can't add much to what's been said. But I watched this PBS show yesterday highlighting a few of the doctors who continue to perform later term abortions. One of them, Dr. LeRoy Carhart, I am familiar with because he practices in my old hometown. He said something that I think so illuminates one of the big misconceptions (that terrorist anti-choice groups would love for everyone to believe) about later term abortions. That they are sought by women who just decide that they don't want to be pregnant anymore and decide to terminate a totally healthy viable fetus. The interviewer asked Dr. Carhart how many of those women he sees. "I haven't met that woman yet" was his response.

I never want to have to terminate a pregnancy. But I'm not so smug to say that I never will. I could be that woman who has pre-eclampsia that forces her to choose between between her baby's life and her own, I could be that woman who happily goes in for a routine ultrasound only to find that her baby has a fatal condition. Any woman could be that woman.

I admit, I'm a bit complacent because for my entire reproductive years, abortion has been a choice for me and so I just assume it always will be. That's dangerous complacency.