Dateline: 2/9/00
First, let me clarify something. I'm not picking on George Tiller.
Okay, I've featured a lot of unflattering stuff about the illustrious Dr. Tiller as of late, but that's not due to any specific animosity toward him. It's because folks in Kansas have been sending me stuff about Tiller and when I get this stuff, read it. And when I read stuff, I think about it. And if I've gone to all the time and trouble to read something and think about something, I figure I might as well write an article about it while it's still fresh in my mind.
So, fans of George Tiller who feel he's being unfairly persecuted, send me stuff about other abortionists and I'll write about them. And prolifers who consider their own local abortionists just as outrageous and/or worthy of comment as Dr. Tiller, send me stuff about them, too. In particular, I'd love to know what Nabil Ghali, Suresh Gandotra, Lawson Akpolunu, and Ming Kow Hah are up to lately. There are probably some process servers who would like to know, too. Think of it as "America's Least Wanted."
That said, let's get back to the exploits of Dr. Tiller. I'll be fair, and let the good doctor speak for himself for a moment. Let's go visit his web site: |
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Now, for your reference purposes, I'll quote the interesting part:
"We are able to perform elective abortions to the time in the pregnancy when the fetus is viable. Viability is not a set point in time. Viability is determined by the attending physician and is based on sonogram results, physical examination and last menstrual period date (if known). Our telephone counselors will ask you a number of medical questions to determine if you are eligible for an elective abortion."
Now, let's step away from the whole abortion issue for a moment. Fetal viability is also an important aspect of obstetrical care, particularly when the mother has health problems. The physician will monitor the fetus and the mother to time premature delivery in such a way as to maximize the baby's chance of survival without unduly risking the mother's life. So, we can look at viability in a non-abortion setting and get an idea of what is involved:
Fetal
and Placental Viability Testing
Fetal
Lung Maturity Testing
Perinatal Care at the
Threshold of Viability
You don't have to understand every word of them to pick up some matters of significance:
1. Viability is a grey area in which many factors must be weighed together to make an educated guess.
2. Even an educated guess can be wrong, and might estimate a fetus as being weeks more mature or less mature than he or she actually is.
3. Making an educated guess requires examining and testing both mother and fetus with a variety of instruments.
4. In addition to the extensive examining, testing, and measuring, the practitioner must bring to bear a lot of expertise, education, and experience in order to make a reasonable estimate of viability.
5. You can't do this over the phone.
Okay, so they don't explicitly state that last one, but it seems fairly obvious that it would be hard to do an ultrasound, draw blood, and take the baby's pulse long distance. The task is probably much, much more difficult if you're not even a physician. Tiller doesn't say what qualifications his trained telephone counselors have. Maybe they're all physicians. Maybe they're all psychics, too, which would certainly help.
I'm perplexed, myself. If anybody has a copy of what the Kansas Board of Healing Arts specifies as the proper qualifications for performing intrauterine diagnostics over the phone, send it my way. And forward a copy to the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, and another to the marketing departments at Sprint and AT&T. Such cutting-edge technology shouldn't be limited to one humble abortion provider in Wichita, Kansas.
Related Areas at Pro Life Views:
Behind Closed Doors
Learn what really goes on inside abortion clinics, from those who
still work in the industry and those who have fled. You can also hear from
women subjected to abortion clinic exploitation and abuse.
National Abortion
Federation
Compare for yourself what they say and what they actually do.
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