Dear Editor,
I was appalled by the recent article written by Marianne Steffey about partial -birth abortions. I am currently working at the Feminist Women’s Health Center (FWHC) in Atlanta.
Steffey claims that she is pro-choice, but her article reads like a brochure put out by pro-life groups.
An abortion is one of the safest operations that a woman can have. After an abortion is performed in the first and second trimesters, the tissue is checked before the woman is allowed to leave the premises.
In the case of partial-birth abortions, Steffey wrote untruths about the procedure. She failed to mention that there are only 1-2 doctors in the United States who perform partial birth abortions.
In the ’90s, only about six partial-birth abortions were performed. The cost for these abortions is so astronomical that everyone does not have access to these procedures.
While our technology is advanced, many defects aren’t detectable right away. A child’s brain might have stopped developing or body systems that develop later in the pregnancy might not be detected earlier. Again, Steffey did not mention that most women who have partial-birth abortions want their child. The main purpose of a partial-birth abortion is so that women can grieve and hold their child for the first and last time.
Working at FWHC, I have seen the many situations that women are faced to go through. Many of these situations seem unbelievable to me, but it happens. But I live in a world where everything is not black or white.
Someone who is pro-choice believes that a woman can choose what is right for her and her situation. We need to do this to protect this right that is in jeopardy of being taken away. Women have the sound mind and ability to make a life-changing decision like abortion. If we can decide to have children, we can also decide not to.
People who don’t know much about partial-birth abortions can base their opinions on what you write and your article.
Stephanie Joiner, MPH

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