Thursday, January 25, 2007

Why are some deaths unacceptable, and others perfectly okay?

What it Meant When Abortion Was Illegal
Dad was just home following his efforts to save a 16-year-old girl who had developed a raging infection from a "botched abortion." She was a student at the neighboring school so I didn't know her, but he knew her well.

The shame of an unintended pregnancy had forced her to an unskilled abortionist who used dirty instruments on a table in a garage. By the time she came to my father, the infection had spread, and she died under his care. He was despondent and angry for weeks.

With wisdom based on first-hand experience, my conservative parents breathed a sigh of relief at the Roe v. Wade decision back in 1973.

Oh, yeah, Roe fixed everything. Tell that to the family of Carolina Gutierrez. They got to watch her hands and feet go black with gangrene as she fought a futile battle to survive. Why is this 16-year-old's death tragic and unacceptable, but the death of a woman like Carolina just something to shrug off, file under "Shit happens"? Why are women who undergo legal abortions disposable? Why are only illegal abortion deaths tragic and unacceptable? I just don't get it. Unless, of course, the outrage is just to hide the real agenda.

I wrote to Dr. Taylor asking for substantiating information about this death. He replied:
It would have been about 1953 in Blasdell & Lackawanna New York. I was 14 years old. I am unaware of any publicity. Sorry.

Does anybody have access to news archives in that area?

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