By Judie Brown
No matter what you call such practices, there are many ways to take a preborn child’s life these days. For our purposes we will focus on the latest innovations, known as do-it-yourself and webcam abortions.
To be clear, self-induced abortions, more commonly referred to as do-it-yourself abortions, are not new. In fact, Father William Saunders writes about the condemnation of pharmakeia (chemical abortion) in the Bible. Fast forward to this century when there has been renewed interest. Proponents of abortion say this is happening because of the anti-abortion movement’s efforts to pass laws regulating abortion and abortion facilities.
Some of these laws, defined as Targeted Regulation of Abortion Providers, “single out the medical practices of doctors who provide abortions and impose on them requirements that are different and more burdensome than those imposed on other medical practices. For example, some TRAP laws require that abortions be performed in far more complicated and expensive facilities than are necessary to ensure the provision of safe procedures, such as in ambulatory surgical facilities.”
This statement is false. Most ambulatory surgical procedures, such as an endoscopy, extraction of an infected tooth, or removal of a skin cancer, treat or diagnose a health problem. Alternatively, abortion is nearly always performed on a healthy expectant mother specifically to end the life of her baby. Furthermore, abortion can cause serious complications for the mother that could lead to her death.
Be that as it may, abortion proponents are screaming foul, and expectant mothers are in some cases taking matters into their own hands.
In Texas, a study of women who had self-induced an abortion concluded that there is “a need to ensure that women who may consider self-managed abortion have accurate information about effective methods, what to expect in the process, and where to go for questions and follow-up care. There is increasing evidence that given accurate information and access to clinical consultation, self-managed abortion is as safe as clinic-based abortion care and that many women find it acceptable, while others may prefer to use clinic-based abortion care.”
In Michigan, an abortion chain is busy telling prospective clients that abortion remains legal and that DIY abortions are not the way to go. The website states: “Northland Family Planning is able to care for you safely, legally, and effectively at one of our three Michigan locations in the metro Detroit area.” Obviously for this group of abortion facilities, their income is what they choose not to surrender to potential DIY devotees.
Then there are webcam abortions—abortions committed in a location where there is no abortionist on site. In a webcam abortion, “Non-medical staff perform a transvaginal ultrasound.” The image is then scanned to the abortionist, who reviews it remotely. If the ultrasound reveals that the expectant mother is 70 days or less along in her pregnancy, the abortionist speaks to her via webcam and the killing begins with one of two pills. The other she is given to take at home alone.
Planned Parenthood is at the forefront of establishing locations for these webcam abortions, and according to recent information, has 24 webcam locations, with more on the way.
These telemedicine abortions are so controversial that, according to the Guttmacher Institute, 18 states have laws specifically requiring an abortionist to be on site rather than in a remote location.
But the underlying theme is obvious: Where there are pregnancies these days, there are people working on every imaginable alternative for an expectant mother so that she will always have a way out of motherhood. All she has to do is look for it.
It troubles us to consider the underlying reasons for such callous disregard for the little ones these expectant mothers are carrying. But we suspect that one of the most common is that we have outlived the era where mothers would sacrifice not only to have their babies but to nurture them. Today the entire concept of selfless love is foreign to many.
During these times of escalating disdain for motherhood, let us remember that motherhood “is like an ever-burning ember, creatively singeing away my pride, branding my heart with the divine mission of maternity. . . . As St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta once said, ‘Love, to be true, to be real – it must hurt, it must cost, it must empty us of self.”
The proper response to modern day killing is love.