Is childbirth safety even relevant?

When cornered about unsafe abortion clinics and deaths from legal abortion, abortion apologists fall back on the old standby, "Well, it's still safer than childbirth."

Earth to abortion apologists: Even if your claim was true, it's irrelevant.

Could you imagine the public outcry if, in the wake of an airline crash, the FAA and the airline industry insisted that there was no need for an investigation and no need to take corrective measures on the grounds that, "Well, flying is still safer than driving!" We'd never stand for it. No matter how much safer airline travel is than driving, we still hold airlines to strict safety standards. No matter how much safer airline travel is than driving, we still investigate crashes. No matter how much safer airline travel is than driving, we still remain ever alert for ways to reduce risks and make it safer.

The comparative safety of an alternative method of transportation simply isn't relevant. We ask the question, "What caused this tragedy? What can we do to prevent this from happening again?" The question of how many of those airline passengers might have died had they driven instead is never asked, because it's not relevant.

But let a woman die from a legal abortion, and abortion apologists come out of the woodwork simpering, "Well, women die in childbirth all the time! Why not worry about them!" But the fact remains that there is no amount of addressing childbirth safety that will change how abortions are performed. No matter what we do about how prenatal care is provided, or what equipment is available in delivery rooms, and so forth, none of this will change what goes on in abortion clinics, just as putting airbags in cars doesn't make airline travel safer.

By all means, yes, let's address childbirth mortality. Let's make better prenatal care available. Let's educate women about the importance of good nutrition before and during pregnancy. Let's develop protocols for referring high-risk women to specialists. Let's improve all aspects of obstetric care, for the better health and safety of mothers and babies. Or rather, let's continue to do so; after all, maternal mortality fell 90% in the United States in the 20th Century -- with most of that progress being made long before abortion was decriminalized. And women who resorted to abortion reaped the benefits of these as well. Helping women to be healthier, and addressing the remaining health concerns surrounding some women's pregnancies, are very laudable pursuits. Yes, by all means let's pursue them.

But let's not for a minute forget that none of this will change a thing about abortion practice. Better screening for gestational diabetes isn't going to clean up, say, the Alabama abortion clinics.

If the abortion lobby is serious about their often chanted mantra of "safe and legal," they'd do something to address "safe" other than obsessing with "legal." They'd investigate abortion mishaps the way the FAA investigates air travel mishaps. They'd make recommendations about preventing further mishaps. They would, in short, take abortion safety as seriously as they take abortion legality.