Sadly, the forced birthers are winning.
They're not just shutting down facilities where abortions are performed, but there are very few doctors willing to enter the specialty area. The problem is nationwide due to an increasing number of gynecologists unwilling to endure the harassment, threats, and violence that has been growing worse.
The Guttmacher Institute, a group that researches and advocates for abortion rights, reports that 84% of clinics experienced at least one form of harassment in 2011. Fifty-three percent of clinics were picketed 20 times or more over the course of a year.(bolding is mine)
Abortion physician Dennis Christensen wants to retire. But he can't, the 71-year-old says, because no one wants to take over his Milwaukee clinic, a condition he set for himself for retirement.The worst part, however, is that Affiliated Medical Center is the only facility in Wisconsin that provides abortions to women beyond the 19th week of pregnancy. It's not only the period of time when serious fetal abnormalities are diagnosed, but also the point in time when a pregnancy begins having health effects on the woman. Being unable to terminate a pregnancy at this time has life-threatening consequences for women.Christensen and his professional partner, Bernard Smith, both of whom have performed abortions for more than four decades, hope they can hand over the reins of the Affiliated Medical Center to younger physicians, but so far no one has come forward.
Naturally, the forced birthers are happy.
Their threats, intimidation, and harassment of doctors, staffs and patients at women's health clinics have taken a serious toll, but they were mitigated by buffer zones (now gone thanks to 5 stale males on the US Supreme Court) and other protective measures for patients and staff members. Unfortunately, it took multiple episodes of violence and murder before those laws were enacted.
Their arsenal of weapons to prevent save and legal abortion has grown larger. They've been able to place draconian laws on the books requiring ultrasounds (which I consider to be "state ordered rape") and waiting periods for women wanting abortions, adding to the costs in both time and money. They've mandated that women receiving prescriptions for drug abortifactants be seen in person rather than by video conference; forcing women to travel great distances just for a prescription.
They have been using trap laws designed to shutter the doors of the clinics themselves. Those laws, such as requiring extra wide doors and hallways as well as admitting privileges for doctors, are carefully crafted to apply only to abortion clinics and not to other facilities that provide outpatient surgery. They pretend to be "concerned" over the health and safety of the women receiving services, but the real reason is to close those clinics.
Today, it's hard to find replacements for the aging providers of abortion services. Who wants picketing outside their homes, low salaries when they have enormous student loans to pay off, harassment on the job, constant threats, and laws designed to negatively impact themselves, their workplace and their patients?
We're being force to refight the old battles for Civil Rights, Voting Rights, Reproductive Rights, Workers Rights, and Womens Rights. It prevents us from giving the fullest time and attention to the new battles that need to be fought to move this country forward again.
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