Abortion by video link? No, it's not some futuristic figment of the imagination. It's reality in Iowa, thanks to Planned Parenthood. According to a front-page New York Times story today, women can get an early stage abortion using RU-486 with the click of a mouse.
From the story:
"Advocates say the idea offers an answer to an essential struggle that has long troubled those who favor abortion rights: How to make abortions available in far-flung, rural places and communities where abortion providers are unable or unwilling to travel. So far only Planned Parenthood clinics in Iowa use this method, but around the country, abortion providers have begun asking how they might replicate the concept.
"For some, however, the program tests the already complicated bounds of telemedicine. Abortion opponents say they are alarmed, fearful for the safety of women who undergo abortions after consulting with doctors who have never actually been in the same room with them. Opponents filed a complaint this spring with the Iowa Board of Medicine, arguing that a doctor’s remote clicking of a mouse hardly meets the state’s law requiring licensed physicians to perform abortions, and more objections are coming."
So, it's only those pesky old abortion opponents who are worried about the health and safety of women undergoing abortions without an actual doctor involved? Really? You would think even abortion advocates might be a teensy bit concerned about this medical disaster waiting to happen. Try to imagine for a moment one of the most painful and traumatic health decisions you might possibly have to make. Now try to imagine doing that via video chat. It's mind boggling to think of procuring an abortion at all, but this way? It's kind of shocking even for Planned Parenthood, isn't it? Oh, right, no it's not.
So far 1,500 abortions have been performed via video link at 16 clinics in Iowa since 2008. Read the full story HERE.
