Why the Abortion Industry Is Determined to Force Participation in the Killing

Like hardy perennials, the lament that there aren’t “enough” abortionists and/or that medical schools aren’t providing abortion “training” is as expected as it is unoriginal. A piece by Kate Harding appearing at salon.com ( "Is there a next generation of abortion providers?") is the most recent and is as revealing for what it doesn’t say as for what it does say.

By that I mean there is not one syllable about various and sundry attempts to force physicians who want no part of abortion to be, at a minimum, accomplices.

As we’ve discussed in this space and in National Right to Life News, the always-eager-to-please-the-Abortion-Lobby Obama Administration is merrily on its way to rescinding a HHS regulation that implemented the federal conscience protection laws that Congress has enacted over the past 35 years.

There are many important parts of that regulation, enacted in the final month of the Bush Administration, but near the top is the requirement that recipients of HHS funding are aware of the nondiscrimination requir ements contained in federal law and that they are committed to complying with these laws. As I say, not a whisper in Harding’s piece.

To be fair she includes a comment from one pro-abortionist who recognizes that “To be fair, we can't teach everything to medical students.” Having disposed of this one pass at balance, Harding offers the standard complaints.

But what’s interesting is how she wants it both ways. On the one hand, physicians-in-training need abortion training (a.k.a. “comprehensive family planning training”) in medical schools because even ambivalent individuals might suddenly discover that they can’t imagine NOT providing abortions!

On the other hand, even if (as most won’t) resident never does perform abortion, “the skills gained from a comprehensive education in reproductive health are worthwhile.” Harding offers this analogy.

“Most doctors don't use everything they learned during their residencies -- [Dr. Mitchell] Creinin himself hasn't practiced obstetrics in 15 years -- but having a broad knowledge base helps physicians provide the best possible care to a wide range of patients.” Ah, yes, just think how helpful learning how to slice and dice the heads and torsos of unborn children can be to your everyday General Practitioner.

Harding is no doubt correct that one reason the residency programs of most accredited medical schools, don’t offer abortion training is because of the controversy that surrounds it. But that simply begs the point: why is training in abortion “techniques” so controversial?

For the same reason that the overwhelming percentage of most abortions are performed in free-standing (often Planned Parenthood) clinics. Most physicians don’t get into medicine to kill helpless patients.

Maybe the OB-GYN Harding uses to complain about the “problem” may have experienced an awakening when she received abortion training (now she "can't imagine not doing abortions”), but all but a handful won’t.

Moreover, they don’t want to be subtlely or overtly commandeered into the ranks of the abortionists.

There are a declining number of abortionists for any of a host of reasons. But the most important explanation also explains why abortion supporters are determined to stifle the conscience rights of those who want no part of abortion. Unless they force physicians to participate, the ranks of the abortionists will continue to shrink.