Forum, 3-4: Abortion law won't save lives

By Sherry Bea Smith, a registered nurse who writes from Nemo. | Saturday, March 04, 2006

Previous Page

Share

• del.icio.us
• Digg
• NewsVine
• Fark

Print

Email

NEMO - Call me pro-life. My career in health care has spanned decades, and I have learned a lot about life's choices.

The most significant knowledge has been gained through supporting decisions made by the critically ill and their loved ones related to sustaining life, the level of aggression to pursue in the treatment of trauma or illness, and the end of life.

The role of the nurse is to advocate for those making the decisions and to embrace the concept that the best decision is the one made by the individual experiencing the illness, or, in the event they are unable to speak for themselves, their loved ones. Never have these choices I have witnessed been framed as simply as "yes" or "no." They are not black or white, instead a gray area in which a path must be forged by those involved.

These decisions are made with much education, discussion and deliberation. These are private choices individuals and families make with the support of the physician and the rest of the health care team.

The same circumstances surround the decision to complete or terminate a pregnancy. We live in a society in which an unwanted pregnancy - be it the result of rape or incest, poor judgment, failed birth control, an erroneous belief in infertility or a myriad of others - can wreak emotional and/or financial havoc, social ostracism, destroyed relationships and a life-long stigma.

Yes, all of life should be celebrated. But the reality of the judgmental society in which we reside is that this is not so.

I know friends and colleagues that have chosen to terminate pregnancies. They have done so only once. They have subsequently borne children and reflect on their past choice to terminate a pregnancy as sorrowful, but not regretful, understanding the negative ramifications that pregnancy would have had on all involved, including the never born. None experienced the post-traumatic stress expressed to the South Dakota legislators by a few women that use their misdirected passion as a penance for their own regret.

The concept of the lawmakers of this state formulating a statute to "save" women from their own decisions is misdirected at best and ludicrous in the framework of human accountability.

The reality of criminalizing abortions has one outcome: the elite and privileged will have access to safe abortions, while women of lower socioeconomic standing and female youth will be relegated to the lurid back-room butchers of days of yore. No lives will be saved; only the risk of disease and death will be enhanced.

I know no one that is "pro-abortion." All understand the seriousness of this issue, and these decisions, as are all of life's decisions, are made with deliberation. Reason should prevail when the lives of women are discredited and privacy denied.

I cared for a beautiful 16-year-old girl that died as the result of a botched abortion. The vision of this child's face will stay with me forever. Her fate will be repeated throughout our state because our lawmakers are blind to reality, ignored phone calls, FAXes, e-mails, and turned their backs on the basic rights of women to have control over their own bodies.

The lapels of those that voted for House Bill 1215 should boast a tiny coat hanger, not a tender footprint. It would better reflect the result of their actions.