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As
a general rule, I never respond in public to a critical
letter to the editor, unless I agree with the criticism
and need to apologize. In the case of a remarkable letter
to the editor from Dr. Mary McKim, Stand on rights, abortion
by writer inconsistent (Feb. 24), I feel constrained to
apologize in one respect, but not in others.
"Rory
Leishman may be gratified to know," wrote McKim,
"that for once I am in agreement with the sentiments
expressed in his column, Human rights issue shamefully
ignored (Feb. 20).
McKim
is a prominent psychiatrist and feminist. I am indeed
grateful that someone of her stature has graciously expressed
agreement with my denunciation of the failure of Prime
Minister Jean Chretien to express any public concern during
his recent trip to China over the human rights abuses
endured by tens of millions of Christians as well as Buddhists,
Muslims and members of the Falun Gong in China.
McKim
lamented that, "Women also are targets of repression
in the People's Republic. They may be forced to abort
second pregnancies even although they wish to have the
baby and are prepared to pay the financial penalties.
They may also have IUD's put in place, which they are
unable to remove, however great the discomfort or distress."
It's
in this respect that I apologize. I was remiss in not
mentioning these particular outrages against women in
my column. It's impossible to image a more appalling human
rights abuse than forced abortion. That Chretien, Ontario
Premier Mike Harris and other government members of Team
Canada had nothing to say in public about such atrocities
during their trade mission and holiday junket to China
is downright disgusting.
McKim
concluded her letter as follows: "If only Leishman
could accept that the ability to safely abort an unwanted
pregnancy is also a basic human right. (And I am not talking
about third trimester so-called 'partial birth abortions.').
"If
he would acknowledge that to force a woman to carry a
pregnancy to term is as unacceptable as a forced abortion
and cease his obsession with removing that right, then
he would truly be in favour of human rights."
To
my mind, much the most gratifying aspect of McKim's letter
is the exception she makes for partial birth abortions
in the third trimester. This procedure, technically designated
as a dilation and extraction (D&X) abortion, is particularly
horrendous. Yet it's commonly used for abortions not just
in the third, but also from the middle of the second,
trimester.
According
to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists,
a D&X abortion entails:
"1.
deliberate dilatation of the cervix, usually over a sequence
of days;
"2.
instrumental conversion of the fetus to a footling breech;
"3.
breech extraction of the body excepting the head; and
"4.
partial evacuation of the intracranial contents of a living
fetus to effect vaginal delivery of a dead but otherwise
intact fetus."
McKim
implies that the ability to obtain a safe abortion of
an unwanted pregnancy is a basic human right during the
first and second trimesters. Dr. Bernard Nathanson, former
medical director for the National Abortion Rights Action
League in the United States, used to take the same view
until the development of ultrasound imaging of babies
in the womb prompted him to think the matter through more
carefully. In his heartrending book, The Hand of God:
A Journey from Death to Life by the Abortion Doctor Who
Changed His Mind, he now persuasively argues that from
the moment of conception, all human beings have an inalienable
right to life that should be protected in law.
Thanks
to the disgraceful judgment of the Supreme Court of Canada
in R v. Morgentaler, 1988, Canada has the ignominious
distinction among democratic countries of having no law
to protect the life of a child in the womb at any time
during a pregnancy. In view of McKim's letter, members
of Campaign Life Coalition, the political arm of the Canadian
pro-life movement, should invite her and her friends in
the Canadian Abortion Rights Action League (CARAL) to
help mount a concerted effort to persuade Parliament to
enact a law that at least restricts partial-birth abortions
during the third trimester.
Who
knows but that in the course of such a joint effort, some
people on both sides of the abortion divide might be persuaded
to change their views. Pro-lifers are prepared to run
that risk. How about members of CARAL? Are they up to
the challenge?
Rory
Leishman
836 Wellington St., London, Ontario, Canada N6A 3S7
Home/Office Phone: 519-439-2676
Home Page: http://www.roryleishman.com/
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