i must put in here that the statements are my opinion and not those of my
employer which officially would be directly opposed to mine.

-----Original Message-----
From: Hope Lawl [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Monday, September 13, 1999 12:53 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: The Abortion/Euthanasia Thread (Long!)


In a message dated 9/13/99 8:23:18 AM Eastern Daylight Time, [log in to unmask]
writes:

<< only 3 percent of abortions are for rape, incest and life threat to the
 mother. that means 97 percent is for convienance, quit ya kidding. the
facts
 don't really support the " hot buttons". the time for choice is before
 conception. we are not dealling with a litter of unwanted kittens. >>

I couldn't agree more. Having worked many years with mothers facing a
problem
pregnancy, I can say for certain that rape, incest or threat to the mother's
life were never once given as the reason that they sought an abortion.
That's
not to say that those conditions are completely nonexistent, but if I didn't
run into it in more than 20 years . . .  Many of these mothers, while
pregnant under tragic circumstances were very relieved to be offered an
alternative to an abortion. Usually the instances where an alternative was
not welcomed were the very ones that were so difficult to sympathize with.
For instance  -  "I don't want to get fat" (heard that a LOT)," No I didn't
use birth control, but I don't mind the abortion that much. I've had them
before and it's only a big deal if you let it be." " My husband and I are
saving for a boat" "My boyfriend does't like the feel of condoms" My job was
to be helpful, comforting and completely non judgemental, but I'd be lying
to
say that I didn't feel any anger toward those people who would so willingly
deal their innocent child a death sentence for their own convenience. So
while there will always be the sad circumstances of an unplanned pregnancy,
these are the very areas that society could prove helpful with, if it chose
to. Instead it punishes those mothers who face their mistakes and choose to
protect their babies by carrying them to term. I wish that people could be
as
forgiving to an unwed mother as they seem to be to somebody like Bill
Clinton. Surely a country as strong as the United States can offer a better
solution to a woman facing an unplanned pregnancy than to tell her that she
has the "right" to kill her baby.
Hope