The National Day of Appreciation for Abortion Providers is NOT acelebration of abortion (referring to the commentary "Abortionnothing to celebrate" in the March 10 Helmsman). If it were, itwould be called the "Yay for Abortion Day."
This holiday was created as a way of recognizing the nurses anddoctors who, while performing their jobs, face legal action,picketing and even physical violence. Pro-choice Americans do notcelebrate the fact that abortion exists.
Abortion is emotionally and physically frightening, and in anideal world where birth control was available to every woman,abortion would not to exist at all.
When a commentary is written in such emotional and inflammatoryterms as Mr. Mowbray's piece, the objective is to frighten peopleand gloss over the facts.
The phrase "partial birth abortion" is not a medical term: it isa term inventedfor political purposes. The Centers for DiseaseControl and Prevention estimate that 55 percent of legal abortionsoccur within the first eight weeks of gestation, and 88 percent areperformed within the first 12 weeks. Only 1.4 percent occur after20 weeks.
Second and third trimesterabortions are performed for a varietyof reasons, but first and foremost these procedures are performedbecause the fetus is already dead, severely sick or deformed, orthe pregnancy is threatening the life of the mother. These are notprocedures available to the common woman, nor are they commonlyperformed.
I appreciate the fact that The Daily Helmsmen is attempting toprovide different sides of relevant issues, but the commentary byJoel Mowbray is simply inflammatory preaching, not journalism. I amdisgusted by its inclusion in this newspaper.
Lauren Davis,
Graduate Student
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