Portray Reality of Abortion: Know the Facts

I am writing in response to the April 10 editorial “Pro-life panel ill-informed” by Heather Fukunaga, Alexis Renwanz and Deborah Roif.

Fukunaga, et al erroneously claim that the event “Grill the Pro-Lifers” sponsored by the BU Right to Life was rampant with unfounded accusations and inaccurate information. The authors address dissatisfaction with the choice of the apparently poorly “selected and screened” panelists who “disseminated false information” regarding emergency contraception (EC), the medical link between abortion and breast cancer and accusations of Nazism.

First, I address the issue of an allegedly uninformed and uneducated panel of experts composed of Dr. Mildred Jefferson, Thomas Harvey, Esq., Ms. Marie Sturgis, and Ms. Kelly Kroll. Among other notable awards and positions, Dr. Jefferson was the first African American woman to graduate from Harvard Medical School and has been awarded 28 honorary degrees by American colleges and universities; Mr. Harvey, a lawyer, has been admitted to practice law before the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, the U.S. District Court of Massachusetts, and the U.S. Supreme Court; Ms. Sturgis has been an elected delegate to the White House Conference on Families and is the acting executive director of Massachusetts Citizens for Life; Ms. Kroll, a junior at BC, is the acting president of the American Collegians for Life, the nation’s oldest organization wholly devoted to educating college students on pro-life issues.

Fukunaga, et al did not provide any factual basis for their accusation of misinformation regarding EC. Furthermore, they state that “[i]f a woman is already pregnant, [EC] will not disrupt the pregnancy.” This statement is wholly untrue. Pro-life advocates oppose EC because of one method in which it works: EC irritates the lining of the uterus so that a newly conceived child cannot attach itself to the uterine wall, thus chemically aborting the child.

The National Cancer Institute (NCI) workshop referred to by Fukunaga, et al is suspect for several reasons. Those who attended the workshop stated that the only presentations at the NCI event were by researchers who rejected a link between abortion and breast cancer. According to Joel Brind, who was a participant at the workshop and is president of the Breast Cancer Prevention Institute, 29 of the 38 epidemiological studies on the topic through last year have demonstrated breast cancer risk.

Comments that connected the abortion movement to Nazism were in reference to Margaret Sanger, the founder of Planned Parenthood. In her own writings and speeches, she professed racist and eugenic views. One such quote only begins to illustrate her disgusting beliefs: “We do not want word to go out that we want to exterminate the Negro population”1. Her journals and papers contain more detailed information concerning her views on the necessity of eugenics and can be viewed at the Smith College library.

I challenge you, the reader, to search for information that accurately portrays the reality that humanity faces concerning abortion.

1. Gordon, Linda. Woman’s Body Woman’s Right: Social History of Birth Control in America (New York, Grossman Publishers, 1976) p.333.

Clinton Reed orison@bu.edu (617) 921-5828 ENG ’04