It's a profile of one of those kind, grandfatherly abortionists that is so popular among abortion activists. He offers the women "rebirth" by slaying their fetuses. And the article pulls no punches, even though it's heavily slanted toward admiration of this guy. Here's a snippet describing an abortion about to take place:
Harrison glances at an ultrasound screen frozen with an image of the fetus taken moments before. Against the fuzzy black-and-white screen, he sees the curve of a head, the bend of an elbow, the ball of a fist.
So at least they're not pretending he's not killing a baby for this girl.
The patients don't come across as very sympathetic. Here's one:
A high school volleyball player says she doesn't want to give up her body for nine months.
Or Amanda:
Amanda, a 20-year-old administrative assistant, says it's not the obstacles that surprise her -- it's how normal and unashamed she feels as she prepares to end her first pregnancy.
"It's an everyday occurrence," she says .... "It's not like this is a rare thing."
Amanda hasn't told her ex-boyfriend that she's 15 weeks pregnant with his child. She hasn't told her parents, either, though she lives with them.
"I figured it was my responsibility," she says.
She regrets having to pay $750 for the abortion, but Amanda says she does not doubt her decision. "It's not like it's illegal. It's not like I'm doing anything wrong," she says.
Or Sarah:
His first patient of the day, Sarah, 23, says it never occurred to her to use birth control, though she has been sexually active for six years. When she became pregnant this fall, Sarah, who works in real estate, was in the midst of planning her wedding. "I don't think my dress would have fit with a baby in there," she says.
Or Stephanie:
The last patient of the day, a 32-year-old college student named Stephanie, has had four abortions in the last 12 years. She keeps forgetting to take her birth control pills. Abortion "is a bummer," she says, "but no big stress."
And the staff don't always come across as very honest:
The 17-year-old in for a consultation this morning assures the nurse that she does not consider the embryo inside her a baby.
"Not until it's developed," she says. "That would be about three months?"
"It's completely formed about nine weeks," the nurse tells her. (Eight weeks - CED) "Yours is more like a chicken yolk."
The girl, who is five weeks pregnant, looks relieved. "Then no," she says, "it's not a baby."
Well, according to The Visible Embryo, at 27-29 days post-ovulation (3-4 weeks), "The brain differentiates into the three main parts: the forebrain, midbrain and hindbrain." "Primitive mouth with a tongue is recognizable." "Gall bladder, stomach, intestines, pancreas continue to form and the metanephric bud appears in the chest cavity." So much for the chicken yolk.
How does our grandfatherly abortionist feel about all this?
He has learned to focus on the facts he considers most important: This woman does not want to be pregnant.
In a nutshell -- her preference trumps the life of that little person.
Well, the honesty is refreshing, at least.
Dear Christina,
ReplyDeleteI know this post is really old, and you may not remember it extremely well, but I just wanted to thank you for this. Dr. William Harrison is my great uncle. My heart just hurts that he has performed so many abortions. My family prays continually that God will save him, but, ugh. It's just so heart-wrenching to have a man you love so much doing something so awful. God bless you for responding to his article in the LA Times.
(((laurelen)))
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