Everything Wrong with Willie Parker’s Open Letter: Dr. Willie Parker is an abortionist in the south who is famous for consistently trying to persuade everyone that performing abortions is his “Christian duty.” Every Christian who is being honest with themselves knows this is complete malarkey, but funnily enough, this faux faith isn’t our beef with Willie today. Last month, Dr. Parker wrote an open letter to the Senate about Roe v. Wade and refusing to confirm Brett Kavanaugh. It makes complete sense why a high-volume abortionist would be scared out of his wits by the prospect of a pro-life Supreme Court; that’s a lot of profit loss. Basically all of it, seeing as abortion is the biggest moneymaker. His full letter is here, but we thought you may enjoy a rundown of every reason this is awful and ridiculous.

Dear Senators of the United States of America, My name is Dr. Willie Parker and I am an ob-gyn and abortion provider. You must forgive this letter to all of you at once, but you see, it would be difficult to just address this plea to “my” senators. This is because over the course of my 28-year career as an ob-gyn, I have lived and worked to serve the women and families of Alabama, California, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Michigan, Mississippi, Pennsylvania, and D.C. So, yes, this is for all of you.

Willie leads off by stating his credentials, which are that he has ended preborn lives in 9 different states. Why this should give anyone room to speak on an issue, we aren’t sure. He also makes his first claim that he is “serving women.” Ending the lives of their children, not telling them all of the implications and risks beforehand, and sending them home to deal with the consequences is not much of a service.

As a physician, I know full well what is at stake for our nation’s people with the vacant Supreme Court seat: basic freedom.

Calling something a “basic freedom” is just a gross misuse of words when referring to ending people’s lives. We can’t just do anything we want, call it a basic freedom, and assume that’ll make it okay.

The 1973 Supreme Court case of Roe v. Wade did so much more than legalize a necessary health care service; it solidified the fundamental right to manage one’s own health care and comprehensive freedom for those seeking and providing abortion care under liberties secured by the United States Constitution, the same document that liberated my ancestors, captured Africans, from slavery.

Abortion is a necessary health care service? I think he needs a lesson on what the word “necessary” means. A necessary health care service is something that is life-saving, and since abortion does not fall into that category, his entire premise is already wobbly. A little farther down, we see how Willie loves bringing slavery into the abortion dialogue. The irony is always painful seeing as slavery is another prime example of how society dehumanized a group of people… which opens the door to a host of atrocities from slave whips to forceps.

This freedom is now being threatened thanks to the nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh, someone who has already proven to us time and time again that he does not value the equality, rights, or safety of women. From interfering with a young detained immigrant woman in obtaining abortion care to believing that the Affordable Care Act is unconstitutional, Judge Kavanaugh’s actions make it clear that Roe v. Wade is under attack, as well as other basic health care.

Someone who opposes Roe v. Wade values the safety of women. Does Willie Parker not care about the women who have been physically and/or psychologically harmed, and even killed, by abortion? Not to mention, the term “abortion care” is basically the biggest oxymoron we can think of. And yet again, we have to express our disagreement with referring to abortion as basic health care seeing as it’s neither healthy nor caring.

If only Judge Kavanaugh could witness what it takes for the patients I care for every day to get care, maybe then he’d understand that abortion is an essential part of health care.

Through the efforts of pro-life advocates in Willie Parker’s areas of business, abortion is more difficult to access. So because a bad thing is now harder to obtain, that makes it more essential? We may need some help with the logic behind that one.

My patients use every method of transportation to reach the clinics where I work, save their hard-earned money, take time away from work or school, find childcare for their children, and bravely face protesters all to receive one of the safest health care services in medicine.

He notes here that his patients “save their hard-earned money.” Is he insinuating that women have an “abortion fund?” And we can hardly even address the concept of finding childcare for your born children while you go terminate their sibling because it’s almost too tragic to think about. Per the safest health care services in medicine bit, there are hundreds of women with perforated uteruses, permanent infertility, incompetent cervixes, and psychological problems who would beg to disagree.

And that is only when I am providing abortion care in states with legal, if not supportive, landscapes. I regularly see what happens when women have nearly insurmountable barriers to care. Because for my patients in other states, Roe is already not a reality. Access to abortion care today depends entirely on the state you live in, the source of your insurance, and the health inequities faced on a day-to-day basis because of one’s race, age, gender, sexuality, immigration status, and/or socio-economic status.

Sure, because the abortion industry never targets poor minority women (jk, it’s actually always).

My patient from the Mississippi Delta, I’ll call her Sheila, illustrates the unconscionable difference one’s zip code can make in determining reproductive rights. A mother of three in one of the poorest areas of the country, Sheila presented to the only clinic in Mississippi located in the state capital of Jackson, some three hours away from her home, thinking herself early in the first trimester. State-mandated physician counseling and a 24-hour waiting period meant that I had to be the one to tell her that she was 16 weeks, zero days, the cutoff for abortion procedures in a non-hospital setting in the state. Sullen, she returned home to the Delta, indicating that she had neither the time nor resources to travel to the state next-door to Mississippi, my home state of Alabama, where the cutoff date is 20 weeks post-fertilization. Merely residing in the “wrong” state can literally determine whether reproductive rights are obtainable.

We were waiting for something anecdotal to really drive his point home. It’s something of a habit for pro-abortion advocates to paint pro-lifers as cruel protestors who hate women by telling stories like this. Let’s say he’s telling the truth and this actually happened. We have all the compassion in the world for a woman who feels like she has no other way out than to kill her preborn son or daughter. Someone who thinks that’s her best option is obviously desperate and in need of help. The difference, however, is that our version of help is, well, help. An abortionist kills her child and sends her on her way. A pro-life person makes her acquaintance, takes her to counseling, fundraises for her, and helps her get what she needs to give her family a good life.

Shelia is just one patient; her story is just one example of how where you live determines your access to care. I’ve seen these restrictions affect all kinds of patients. I saw Kim, the 18-year-old pre-med student at a major university who was delayed by waiting periods and financial barriers, that forced her to delay care until the second trimester and have a procedure that was more expensive and more complex.

He really emphasizes the “student” nature of this girl; all women should resent the implication here that students can’t be successful without terminating their children. We also confess a bit of confusion about how financial barriers caused someone to have a more expensive abortion, but we suppose that’s beside the point. We’re a bit too hung up on the “second trimester complexity” which is a pretty way of saying that the baby has to be dismembered and may feel the pain if it’s 20 weeks or after.

If Roe were overturned, the landscape would look much different than it did before Roe. Medical technology has changed, and medication abortion is more readily available. Women will be targeted and criminalized for exercising their freedom, their right to dignity, and taking care of their families. This burden will be disproportionately borne by those communities who already face the most barriers to care: people of color, young people, low-income communities, undocumented immigrants, and LGBTQ+ folks.

If Roe were overturned, women would be much safer. Medical technology certainly has changed, which means we know exactly what is in the womb and why then abortion is so horrendous. Medication abortion being more available is yet another danger to women, and women will not be criminalized. Abortionists will. And for Pete’s sake, referring to abortion as “taking care of their families” is just absurd. Civilized people don’t take care of their families by killing off the one they deem burdensome. As for his list of those who will be burdened by Roe’s absence, notice how he lists groups most heavily victimized by the abortion industry (plus LGBTQ+ folks, the connection to which we still aren’t quite sure).

I hope it is now clear that when considering your reaction, and possible action, to President Trump’s nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh, that this is also about other fundamental freedoms that affect dignity, well-being, and the right to happiness. The makeup of this court will affect who has the right to vote, who can be legally married under the law, who can have children, who can enter our country to begin with, who will be pushed out of their homes, who will have access to clean and safe natural resources, and who can be discriminated against.

Have you ever noticed that abortion can’t seem to stand on its own? He just mentioned gay rights in the previous paragraph, and no part of this one has anything to do with abortion. Add that to the fact that abortion hijacked the feminist movement, and you’ve got some things to think about. Why, indeed, can it not stand by itself…

Senators, we, the people, need you to take a stand. We need you to think about the future generations of this country. If Kavanaugh is not blocked from taking a seat on our highest court, it is inevitable that our freedoms will be stripped from our bodies and from our lives. We are counting on you, Dr. Willie Parker

WE NEED YOU TO THINK ABOUT THE FUTURE GENERATIONS OF THIS COUNTRY. For crying out loud, is irony completely lost on the pro-choice movement? The Supreme Court needs a pro-life Justice. The thinking of Willie Parker and all of his compatriots is backwards, anti-woman, and downright dangerous. Everyone has a right to free speech, but no one has the right to end the lives of people who can’t speak for themselves. As pro-life advocates, it is our duty to make sure our Senators know that we support their vote for the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh because Roe has got to go. Please call yours today!

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