I share Barbara Kay’s concerns about the lack of informed consent on abortion. I bought the book she mentions in her article, called Complications. I think it’s excellent. And I don’t think it is pro-life or pro-choice to share this information widely with women who will consider abortion.
Soul-searching days lie ahead for ideologues invested in the notion that abortion is a minor, virtually risk-free procedure, without medical or psychological residue. For many “progressives,” the right to unfettered abortion is the quintessential symbol of women’s liberation from the patriarchy. Any constraint at all, even on a woman’s confidence in aborting — whether or not it constitutes rational consideration of her own best interests — represents a defeat in the battle for gender equality. But this absolutism was adopted in simpler scientific times, before DNA, ultrasounds and longitudinal epidemiological studies. These scientific advances have altered the perceptions of many ordinary Canadians who had previously given little thought to the “blob of tissue” being extracted from women, but who now rightly regard abortion (especially sex selection abortion) as a complex, morally freighted issue.
Soul-searching, is one way to put it, yes.
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David says
Soon will come the response that the research isn’t reliable. It’s amazing we spent decades dealing with, ‘There is no proof that cigarettes cause cancer.’.
Who said, ‘If you tell a big enough lie and tell it frequently, it will be believed.’? On the other hand, the same goes for telling something that is true!
Andrea Mrozek says
I think the comparison to the “no proof cigarettes cause cancer” era in history is very apt.
Today pro-lifers look like conspiracy theorists. Tomorrow (whenever tomorrow comes) pro-choicers who ignored the obvious problems will be embarrassed.