In a recent article at npr.org, “Politics Makes Abortion Training in Texas Difficult,” Carrie Feibel reports on changes in medical training opportunities that could soon result in a genuine crisis. The Lone Star State has some of the most strict abortion laws in the U.S. In most hospitals, elective abortions are not allowed, and doctors must get permission to perform the procedure in extraordinary cases where the child suffers from severe deformity, or the mother’s health is at risk. One of the further hardships created by these tyrannically stringent, anti-choice laws is that for many OB-GYN residents, it is becoming nearly impossible to receive the necessary training to become competent in performing the procedure.
Ms. Feibel explains, "A few years ago, 48 doctors in Texas did abortions, but a recent study shows it's now down to 28. And some of the remaining doctors are nearing retirement.” The upshot of Texas abortion laws is that experienced abortion providers "cannot teach the procedure, even at an off-site clinic." Abortion provider, "Dr. Bernard Rosenfeld, 74, hasn't been able to line up a successor to lead his medical practice. As the number of doctors in Texas dwindles, medical educators have raised the alarm about the need to train the next generation.”
Alarm indeed! Some may see the situation in Texas only as a typical scenario where professionals in a highly-regulated field are forced to deal with red tape and regulations spawned by haggling politicians. But upon further consideration, it becomes clear that what’s going on in Texas could easily lead to a human rights catastrophe. And it’s hard to bring oneself to imagine what would happen to our country if the policies in Texas were implemented nation wide.
The implications are unavoidable: Women would no longer have the choice to end the lives of their children. Many women would be forced to flee to Mexico to access the care needed to abort the life of a child, and thousands of decent women would be criminalized simply for seeking to kill their own children. Those who could not make the trip south of the border would be forced to suffer the trauma of childbirth, and afterwards a woman would be forced to care for her child as its mother whether she identifies as a mother or not. Those who cannot or will not see themselves in the role of mother would have no other choice but to give their children up to loving families who are are eager to raise children.
But this is not all. Consider the dire implications such laws, if left unchanged, will have on personal relationships and human sexuality. If elective abortions are ever universally prohibited, not only will the rights and freedoms of women be undermined, but men also would be vulnerable to unthinkable restrictions. Any man innocently seeking to gratify his need for copulation could be whimsically penalized with fatherhood for the rest of his life. This would make it almost impossible to sever sex from love and life-long commitment, and thus undo the decades of progress toward sexual liberation in this country. Couples by the millions would have all their thinking about sex clouded and prejudiced by undue considerations of marriage and family. It’s horribly unnerving to consider, but this could lead to a moral and cultural stone-age where sex is experienced only within the confines of a monogamous marriage.
Mark my words, the situation in Texas is not the benign result of political vicissitudes. The threat to human rights and personal freedoms embodied in these anti-choice laws has the potential to plunge this nation into the dark depths of chastity and virtue that haven’t been known in our culture since before the 1960’s.
MM
Ms. Feibel explains, "A few years ago, 48 doctors in Texas did abortions, but a recent study shows it's now down to 28. And some of the remaining doctors are nearing retirement.” The upshot of Texas abortion laws is that experienced abortion providers "cannot teach the procedure, even at an off-site clinic." Abortion provider, "Dr. Bernard Rosenfeld, 74, hasn't been able to line up a successor to lead his medical practice. As the number of doctors in Texas dwindles, medical educators have raised the alarm about the need to train the next generation.”
Alarm indeed! Some may see the situation in Texas only as a typical scenario where professionals in a highly-regulated field are forced to deal with red tape and regulations spawned by haggling politicians. But upon further consideration, it becomes clear that what’s going on in Texas could easily lead to a human rights catastrophe. And it’s hard to bring oneself to imagine what would happen to our country if the policies in Texas were implemented nation wide.
The implications are unavoidable: Women would no longer have the choice to end the lives of their children. Many women would be forced to flee to Mexico to access the care needed to abort the life of a child, and thousands of decent women would be criminalized simply for seeking to kill their own children. Those who could not make the trip south of the border would be forced to suffer the trauma of childbirth, and afterwards a woman would be forced to care for her child as its mother whether she identifies as a mother or not. Those who cannot or will not see themselves in the role of mother would have no other choice but to give their children up to loving families who are are eager to raise children.
But this is not all. Consider the dire implications such laws, if left unchanged, will have on personal relationships and human sexuality. If elective abortions are ever universally prohibited, not only will the rights and freedoms of women be undermined, but men also would be vulnerable to unthinkable restrictions. Any man innocently seeking to gratify his need for copulation could be whimsically penalized with fatherhood for the rest of his life. This would make it almost impossible to sever sex from love and life-long commitment, and thus undo the decades of progress toward sexual liberation in this country. Couples by the millions would have all their thinking about sex clouded and prejudiced by undue considerations of marriage and family. It’s horribly unnerving to consider, but this could lead to a moral and cultural stone-age where sex is experienced only within the confines of a monogamous marriage.
Mark my words, the situation in Texas is not the benign result of political vicissitudes. The threat to human rights and personal freedoms embodied in these anti-choice laws has the potential to plunge this nation into the dark depths of chastity and virtue that haven’t been known in our culture since before the 1960’s.
MM
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