Legal abortion = safe abortion
The news of Kermit Gosnell’s reputed “house of horrors,” in the Jan. 19 Daily Herald horrifies pro-choice Americans. Not because of bad press, but
because his is the vision we fight against.
Abortion has never gone away. It has been with mankind since primitive times, when people sought out natural abortifacients. It has never been apart from mankind, regardless of what its opponents claim.
Like sex itself, abortion cannot be legislated out of existence, cannot be eliminated by prohibition. Pretending abortion does not exist will not eliminate it.
When abortion is illegal, however, these quotes paint the results: “Equipment ... bloodstained, dusty and broken.” “A doctor who knowingly and systematically mistreats female patients.”
Kermit Gosnell is the shadow of the anti-choice movement, the specter that should haunt their every parade, their every vote, their every
prayer. Those who oppose legal abortion must understand that even if outlawed, abortion will not go away. It will become horrific.
If abortion is outlawed, babies and women will die at the hands of those who operate from greed rather than compassion.
Actions like those alleged of Gosnell are why I vote pro-choice. I understand what horrors we would face in a nation where abortion is illegal. And I trust women to make their own reproductive health care
decisions.
Anyone who wishes for the criminalization of abortion should consider the world they claim to be fighting for — and witness in Kermit Gosnell’s “house of horrors” the very future their acts would bring
about.
Ivan Ewert
Crystal Lake