Turning the Debate

The New York Times recently had an piece by Neela Banerjee on the changing tactics of the Pro-Life movement to reduce the number of abortions in America. Their Pregnancy Centers and Medical Clinics are providing women the opportunity to understand the reality of what is going on within their bodies by utilizing technology.

Banerjee reports,

Take Andrea Brown, 24 years old and unmarried, who Banerjee says was desperate for an abortion. As a result she went to a Pregnancy Center run by a church-financed organization. The center offered her a free sonogram and then everything changed.

"When I had the sonogram and heard the heartbeat - and for me a heartbeat symbolizes life - after that there was no way I could do it," Ms. Brown said.

The Pro-Choice Reaction

Groups that favor abortion rights, however, see the technique as a pressure tactic. Susanne Martinez of Planned Parenthood Federation of America reacts to stories like Ms. Brown by saying,

"From the time they walk in to these centers, they are inundated with information that is propaganda and that has one goal in mind. And that is to have women continue with their pregnancies."

Nancy Keenan, president of Naral Pro-Choice America, said that,

"while ultrasounds were legitimate medical care for pregnant women, they shouldn't be misused to badger or coerce women by these so-called crisis pregnancy centers...With or without ultrasound,women understand the moral dimensions of their choices."

The Pro-Life Response

Dr. Sandra M. Christiansen, medical director of the Carenet Pregnancy Center of Frederick, Md says that, "we want to provide women with critical information as they face a life-altering procedure and decision."

So while the Pro-Life side is providing more information to these desperate women, the Pro-Choice see it as a means to "badger or coerce."

As Carol Liebau points out in her post on this story,

"Seems to me that if you've nothing to hide, there's no harm in providing as many facts as possible to women who find themselves in the sad and difficult position of confronting an unwanted pregnancy."

Technology seems to be turning the debate to life.