There were only a few crucial points missing from Noemie Emery’s otherwi se thorough article, the most grievous being Emery’s cu rious misstatement that the fetus is “life, but just barely.” The fetus acquires genetic autonomy at conception, a beating heart by day 18, and brain function on an EKG after day 40.
Abortion remains the most beloved “feminist” statement on campus and in the workplace. Exercising one’s choice is understood as the “choice” to end life, and thus celebrate one’s liberation from our patriarchal moral, societal, political, and physical “oppression.”
But the feminist who believes in liberation lies when she says that there are no risks to choosing an abortion. There is no such thing as a “safe” abortion, legal or otherwise. The NIH and CDC could not care less about the risks of abortion. No one in the medical establishment bothers to track many devastating complications, nor are abortionists required to inform their patients of side-effects like inadvertent sterilization, the potential for chronic PID, psychological post-abortion trauma, severe hemorrhaging, and breast cancer (which has been linked to abortion by 40 different studies).
We can curb our current abortion-as-contraception addiction without repealing Roe, by regulating the industry and tracking complications. Once women are told what an abortion can lead to, they will turn to pregnancy crisis centers and adoption agencies.
BETH WILLIAMS, WESTAMPTON, NJ
