Category: Miscellaneous Quotes

Justice Blackmun’s former clerk Edward Lazarus, who is now a federal prosecutor:

“What, exactly, is the problem with Roe? The problem, I believe, is that it has little connection to the constitutional right purportedly interpreted… When Democratic Senators oppose a judicial appointment because of the nominees opposition to Roe, they not only endorsement make a litmus test out of one of the most intellectually suspect constitutional decisions of the modern era. They practically require that a judicial nominee sign onto logic that is, at best, questionable, and at worst, this disingenuous and results-oriented.”

Edward Lazarus “the Lingering Problems with Roe V Wade, and Why the Recent Senate Hearings on Michael McConnell’s Nomination Only Underlined Them” Findlaw, Thomas Reuters, October 3, 2002

The pro-choice author of one book described observing an ultrasound training workshop:

“The workshop was for primary care clinicians who were beginning to offer medication abortion in their practices and were planning to use ultrasonography to date their patient’s pregnancies precisely. (Ultrasounds are not required as part of the medication abortion regimen, but are widely used for this purpose, and in abortion care more generally.) As is common in this kind of medical training situation, the host clinic had recruited two pregnant patients to serve as volunteers, so the trainees could practice using an ultrasound machine.…

The group was informed that the first room contained a woman who was planning to continue her pregnancy. In the second, one who was planning to terminate.…

When I entered the first room with a group of about six trainees and two trainers, I sensed the high energy level, and there was a lot of jovial banter between the clinicians and the volunteer, including thanks for her service. When the embryo (about five weeks gestation) was first located on the ultrasound, the trainer enthusiastically pointed this out to her. As different trainees took turns finding the tiny embryonic sac, others kept up a steady stream of small talk, asking how the pregnancy was going, how the patient was feeling, and so on. The group left with wishes for a successful pregnancy and birth.

The mood changed immediately when we entered the second room. People became far more subdued. The patient was graciously thanked for her volunteer service, but there was none of the buoyancy that I had just witnessed, with the first patient. When the embryo was initially located on the screen, the trainers quietly pointed it out to the trainees and did not call it to the woman’s attention. I noted that she did not look at the screen at all for the 45 minutes the group was in the room.”

Carole Joffe Dispatches from the Abortion Wars: the Costs of Fanaticism to Doctors, Patients, and the Rest of Us (Boston, Massachusetts: Beacon Press, 2009) 123 – 124

This quote shows the strange kind of “schizophrenic” behavior of medical professionals as they switch gears between wanted and unwanted pregnancies.

An article in Newsweek discussed how feminists and other pro-choicers take abortion more seriously now than they did in the past. The article claims that pro-choicers are more likely not to take abortion lightly

“Abortion, never an easy alternative for anyone, is even more daunting when you’re young. Back in the 70s – and even 80s – any woman worth her Ms. subscription knew she could pass around the hat in her dorm and collect a few hundred bucks for an abortion. Access was rarely a problem: every big city and most college towns had a clinic or at least an abortion doctor, and if he wasn’t Marcus Welty, well, at least he had an office… The climate has chilled; even ardent pro-choicers don’t treat “choice” so lightly.”

Michelle Ingrassia “Virgin Cool” Newsweek, October 17, 1994

From an escort at an abortion clinic (escorts try to prevent pro-life sidewalk counselors from giving pamphlets to women coming in for abortions or speaking to them)

There are times a client and/or companion is so empowered they instantly gain my admiration.

The companion got out of the car first. E was hovering right behind me ready to start shaming. I was able to explain the vests and offer to escort them before he began his spiel. E handed the companion some literature. When I explained he was a protester, they handed it right back to him.

The companion and I escorted the client down the sidewalk. We were in a line: E, companion, client and me. E started with “Women regret their abortions. Don’t lead her into this place.” The companion waved dismissively at him and said, “Oh, I know all about abortion. I have had 10 already.” There was a pause then E leaned over towards the client and said “You don’t have to go into that place.” The client turned to me and said, “I am not listening to him.” I replied that was best.

We walked to the clinic entrance with E talking the whole time, but nobody was paying any attention to him.

It was great to witness these two completely ignoring the words meant to hurt and shame them. They are just words. The antis don’t know anything about the clients and why they made the decision for abortion. I felt privileged to witness this calm confidence.

Sarah Terzo “Clinic escort: woman who has 10 abortions is “empowered”Live Action News March 23, 2013

It is of course possible that the statement of having 10 abortions was sarcasm, but either way, the clinic workers pride shows how twisted their mindset is.

What a pro-life bill (About tax money going to fund abortions)was being considered, NARAL (a major pro-abortion group) developed two commercials to sway public opinion. This was after they conducted a major survey to see what would have the most impact. The commercials that were made misrepresented the facts. They decided to show them to reporters:

“The first commercial was too crudely dishonest to parade before reporters, so she [the woman running the press conference) showed them the second. It opened with a chastely dressed girl walking home from school with books under her arm. “Imagine,” said the male narrator. “Your fourteen-year-old child, your own sweet daughter, is raped and pregnant. She’s frightened, confused, and so are you.” On the screen, the girl sobbed in her mother’s arms.

The narrator went on: “Imagine , too, the government says they’ll make the decision. Never mind Never mind the circumstances. You, your doctor, your preacher, your daughter have no say in this personal, private tragedy.” As he spoke, this panel of authorities appeared on the screen. The girl sat between her father and her mother as a gray-haired physician explained that he couldn’t help them end the pregnancy.

As the narrator enumerated the people excluded from the decision- parents, doctors, preachers- the visual image switched from a wide shot of the family and doctor to consecutive close-ups of the dismayed father and mother. The nightmare dissolved as the narrator concluded, “Don’t let this be a bad dream. Vote against Amendment 65.”

….Pro-lifers called the ad “a straight out lie” noting that the amendment didn’t ban abortions.  But Hickman [the pollster] had calculated correctly. With a week remaining and just $24,000 available for their own commercials, pro-lifers had no chance to launch an effective rebuttal.”

Later, a representative of NARAL:

“She admitted that her second commercial, which had portrayed Amendment 65 as a threat to Arkansas preexisting ban on abortion funding, was designed to confuse voters.”

William Saletan Bearing Right: How Conservatives Won the Abortion War (Berkley: California: University of California Press, 2004) 29, 40

In one of the partial birth abortion ban trials, Judge Arnold, who opposed any kind of ban on abortion, explained how a common D & E procedure was similar to a D &X (or partial birth) procedure.

“In a D&E procedure, the physician inserts forceps into the uterus, grasps a part of the fetus, commonly an arm or a leg, and draws that part out of the uterus into the vagina. Using the traction created between the mouth of the cervix and the pull of the forceps, the physician dismembers the fetal part which has been brought into the vagina, and removes it from the woman’s body. The rest of the fetus remains in the uterus while dismemberment occurs, and is often still living…”

Richard Smith “Candor and the Court: The Supreme Court will confront as never before the violent nature of mid-and late-term abortion”  America April 1, 2000

Read more about the D & E procedure, from a former abortionist.

See pictures of a D & E procedure. 

See remains of a babies aborted by D & E at 21 weeks