A letter from a Reverend about abortion rights
I usually do not read op-eds in the strib, but letters responding are sometime interesting.
Like this one from Monday:
If its legal, accessible Gosnell doesnt happen
The Minnesota Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice heartily agrees with writers Jennifer A. Marshall and Sarah Torre (This abortion news will open your eyes, April 25) that the horrific crimes of Kermit Gosnell are abhorrent and difficult to fathom. Gosnell was not certified in OB/GYN, and the procedures he routinely performed failed almost every standard of care.
If the writers believe, as we do, that such horrors should never be repeated in civil society, we wonder why they represent institutions that advocate the very conditions that allow such a charlatan to thrive. Lack of sexuality education, lack of access to contraception, a scarcity of trained abortion providers, fear of violence perpetrated by clinic protesters, restrictive waiting periods and Medicaids refusal to provide insurance coverage for most abortions all make for an environment where women who have extremely limited options are preyed upon by the likes of Gosnell.
The writers appropriately decry the horrific infanticide in Gosnells clinic; what they dont say is that by denying women access to safe, legal abortion care, or by passing laws that make compliance impossible (see North Dakota), this is the inevitable result.
The Rev. Kelli Clement, Minneapolis
The writer is executive director of the Minnesota Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice.
http://www.startribune.com/opinion/letters/204939871.html
(I did not know there is such an organization..)