Searchs: A motley assortment

Deaths from illegal abortion in 2007: Sorry, but the only abortion deaths I know of for 2007 were of the safe, legal kind: Edrica Goode and Laura Hope Smith.

how best to abort a 5 week fetus: Don't. First of all, ambivalence and even rejection of the pregnancy are normal early on. Usually this ambivalence resolves when something happens that helps the woman to see the baby as real and alive, which used to be "quickening" (feeling the first movement) at around 16 weeks. But with ultrasounds and the ability to hear the baby's heartbeat, this bonding often takes place much earlier. Second, you're still at a period of high risk for miscarriage. So odds are that if you wait until after 12 weeks, one of two things will have happened: Either you'll have had a chance to get past the initial ambivalence and be glad you're having a baby, or the whole issue will have gone away on its own, either because you miscarried, or because you had a molar pregnancy or blighted ovum that resolved on its own, or because your pregnancy was ectopic and an abortion would have only increased your risk of dying. Give yourself time to adjust. If, after seeing the baby on ultrasound and hearing the heartbeat, you still want it dead, you can get it killed later. But you'll be doing it because you really do want the baby to die, and not just because of normal, self-limiting early pregnancy emotional turmoil.

Self abortion: Two words: Dumb idea. If you're early enough in the pregnancy to carry it off with relatively low-risk abortion teas, you're still likely subjecting yourself to the risk for no reason, since you're at the stage where miscarriages are common anyway. If you weren't already in the process of having a miscarriage, taking enough of the stuff to kill the baby can kill you as well. Or you might have an undiagnosed ectopic pregnancy, and your attempts to do an abortion will delay diagnosis and appropriate care. If you're considering sticking things in your uterus, I'd give you the same two words -- Dumb idea -- but in italics, boldface, and underlined. You can poke a hole in your uterus or give yourself a nasty infection. And there is no such thing as a "natural" abortion. By definition you're doing something to thwart Mother Nature if you're trying to dislodge a fetus or embryo that your body is trying to hold on to. So go to a doctor and get some proper prenatal care.

Dr. Arnold Bickham: Quack abortionist extraordinaire.

Bad abortion stories: Where do I begin? Just browse the blog. Though there are some heartbreaking ones involving teens. And how about these cases: Jammie Garcia drowned in her own feculent fluids because her abortionist had shoved her fetus into her bowl and left it there to block things up; Carolina Gutierrez (pictured) endured the amputation of her gangrenous limbs in a futile attempt to save her from abortion-related sepsis; Lawson Akpolonu was raping patients in his filthy clinic -- something Diane Sawyer considered "a non-story" when we tipped her off; abortionist James Park's method of disposing of late-term fetuses -- running them through a meat grinder -- was enough to make fellow abortionist Curts Stover lose his lunch. There are these guys -- they're pretty nasty, with the one guy doing abortions at home and tossing the mangled fetuses in the trash and so forth. We have some guys dumping fetuses down the garbage disposal. Then there's this place, where employees complained to the state that their boss was eating the fetuses. What happened to this woman during her safe and legal abortion is pretty bad. Keep coming, I've got more.

why doctors have to recommend abortions to save the mother: Cases (aside from tubal pregnancies, which aren't actually treated by abortion in the first place) where a doctor actually would have to recommend an abortion are so rare as to be practically non-existent. Though some will recommend abortion anyway out of ignorance, laziness, or fear of lawsuits.

Can't cope abortion: I don't know if this person means she can't cope after an abortion -- in which case she should get help from a post-abortion program -- or if she means she's pondering abortion because she feels she can't cope. If it's the latter, she needs to know that feelings of being unable to cope are normal in early pregnancy. But pregnancy takes a long time to progress from initial panic to the day you put the baby in the bassinette. That gives you plenty of time to pass from "I can't deal with this!" to "How did I live before you?" As Dr. Alec Bourne said, "Those who plead for an extensive relaxation of the law [against abortion] have no idea of the very many cases where a woman who, during the first three months, makes a most impassioned appeal for her pregnancy to be 'finished,' later, when the baby is born, is thankful indeed that it was not killed while still an embryo. During my long years in practice I have had many a letter of the deepest gratitude for refusing to accede to an early appeal." Give yourself time. And contact a pregnancy center for help and support.

What is the percent of abortions used as birth control?: Between 42% and 95%, depending on how you define it.

How can women die from abortion?: They bleed to death from abortions. They die from complications of the abortion anesthesia. They die from embolisms. They die from infections. Yes, they die. From abortions that are legal and therefore presumably safe.

For more abortion deaths, visit the Cemetery of Choice:

Abortion songs: I have a collection here, with videos.