Broncaccio leads with a real story from Franklin County:
In August 2004, a 10½-week pregnant Shelburne Falls woman went to another woman for a “menstrual extraction” abortion, a method that uses a suction technique to remove an embryo from the uterus in the earliest stages of pregnancy.
But after the procedure, the Shelburne Falls woman required treatment at the Franklin Medical Center for what prosecutor Susan Loehn described in court as “serious complications from the procedure.”
Broncaccio goes on to pose the question, “How hard is it to get an abortion in Franklin County?” She quotes several local women’s health experts who say that access to abortion is on the wane.
Although abortion is legal, the number of medical doctors performing abortions in the state has dropped to 1973 levels. Pro-choice advocates say the combination of fewer practitioners and few funding options for poor women may limit access to safe, medical abortions for some people here.
“Access to abortion is not available to all the people who need those services,” agreed Leslie Laurie, president and chief executive officer of Tapestry Health Systems Inc., which provides reproductive health care in 10 locations throughout western Massachusetts, including Greenfield and Athol.
It’s a great story that should get much more play. It was on page one of the Recorder yesterday, jumping inside to page 9, where it ran to probably 60 column inches or more.
(Cross posted from my blog, flash & yearn.)
…coming back in style to a state near you.
<
p>
sighs
<
p>
Do we ever learn ANYthing from history??
do you think the people in South Dakota who voted to outlaw abotion simply don’t know anyone who has had one or wanted to have one? do they not talk to each other? are they all men who never discuss anaything with women?
I live a pretty sheltered life, (I would not choose an abortion for myself) but even I know what happened before abortions were legal.
I am appalled that laws can be made and applied with so little understanding of actual life.