Of new abortionists he says:
Sometimes the young ones ask to come in for an afternoon so they can learn to make a little money while their careers get started — they think it's as simple as changing a tire.
In other words, they're in and out.
Get a load of his wife, a Latina who worked as an abortionist in Barcelona:
When I was aborting in Spain, I finished the abortion to a young woman, first trimester. When I finish this procedure, she sit on the table, see me to my face, say, Oh, doctor, you are really nice, you are such angel, how do you kill babies? I say, I'm sorry, I don't kill any baby. I aspirate gestational sac. You kill your baby.
Some bedside manner, eh?
Are there some abortions Hern won't do?
This woman you refused to treat, what was her reason?
She was raped. I'm very sympathetic, but I can't risk my medical license for someone who just didn't get around to doing anything about it. I've done some cases over thirty-six weeks, but very few.
For what cause?
For some catastrophic problems.
Like what?
Oh, anencephaly or lack of kidneys, you know. Lack of a brain.
The antiabortionists say that in those cases, the woman should just give birth naturally and let God take the baby.
The sharp tone comes back. Having a delivery is not a benign procedure. When you are trying to keep the baby alive, that increases the risk for the woman. And Reagan put in a bunch of rules about requiring to keep babies alive no matter how hopeless it is. You have people going to Europe to get away from that.
You mean the hospital requires them to save the baby?
The hospital requires full resuscitation measures, no matter what.
Also, his seaweed procedure is very slow and gentle on the cervix. The tissue dehydrates, the collagen starts to pull apart, the uterus gets softer. If you do a forceful dilation, you're going to tear the cervix. All around, his way is safer.
Safer for the mom?
Not for the mom, he snaps, for the woman. Till she's had a baby, she's not a mom.
I think a lot of women might object to that last statement.
And how does he feel about the procedure itself?
In passing, the abortionist says you can never get used to this. Next time he gives you a minute, you ask him to elaborate.
You can't, he says. I think we're hardwired, biologically, to protect small, vulnerable creatures, especially babies. The fetuses may not be babies, but some of them are pretty close.
There are so many good passages. I don't want to spoil it for you. Go read it.
