August 2, 2010
After waiting 2 weeks for the New York Times to publish our Letter to the Editor, we have decided to publish ourselves.
Why Abortionists are Becoming Extinct: a Response to “The New Abortion Providers”
Dear New York Times Editor,
In Emily Bazelon’s July 12th article entitled, “The New Abortion Providers,” she references the current shortage of abortionists in America and highlights that a new generation of pro-choice physicians are rising to the occasion to counter the “pressure and stigma” that make “doctors shun abortion.” Bazelon’s article attempts to leave the reader with an inspiring hope for the future of abortion. However, her article begs the question: Why don’t physicians want to become abortionists, and, if they do, why do they want to hide their practices from the general public?
Bazelon explains the current shortage of abortionists by referencing the violence of a few extremists in the early 1990s and the general annoyance of pro-lifers to abortionists.
However, I beg to differ. Abortion is not something medical students aspire to do because it is a gruesome procedure that terminates the life of a human being.
As national Gallup polls have shown, this generation of Americans are pro-life. We believe children in-utero, are simply that, children; human beings with rights.
Even my “pro-choice” peers don’t want to perform abortions because in the back of their minds, they know there is something wrong and uncomfortable about terminating a life or a “potential life”, as they would call it, for money.
This is the same mindset nationwide. Adults and young people call themselves “pro-choice” but then quickly say, “But I don’t believe in it [abortion].” Sadly, even women who have had abortions have told me that they knew what they were doing was wrong. In our hearts and heads, we know abortion is inherently wrong and that is something that will never change with abortion. This is something that will never change with abortion, regardless if we call it a medical procedure.
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Dominique Monlezun is entering Tulane School of Medicine next fall. He serves as the National Coordinator of Medical Students for Life, an
outreach of Students for Life of America: http://www.medsfl.org