Can a late-term abortionist be a hero? Yes. One definition of a hero is a person who risks his or her own life in order to help other people. George Tiller was a late-term abortionist who was murdered while worshipping God in a church. Another late-term abortionist—who worries about being murdered by the same kind of people who murdered Dr. Tiller—is Warren Hern. Does Dr. Hern save lives? Yes, he does. He often performs abortions that are necessary to save the life of the pregnant woman. One woman already had a son, and she wanted to stay alive to take care of her son. Complications in her second pregnancy made that impossible unless she had a late-term abortion, and Dr. Hern gave her that late-term abortion. In an article that appeared in Esquire, the woman said after she received the abortion, “Now I’m still recovering, and still sad and still mourning, and I realize how grateful I am that Dr. Hern was able to take me under such quick and terrible circumstances. That’s what gets me so upset. He’s a doctor who is trying to help people. It’s shocking that people want to hurt him.” Dr. Hern is very careful about deciding when an abortion is justified. He often declines to perform late-term abortions. About one such case, he said, “She was raped. I’m sympathetic, but I can’t risk my medical license for someone who just didn’t get around to doing anything about it.” Anti-abortionists sometimes don’t seem to realize that late-born abortions are necessary. For example, Rabbi Shira Stern needed a late-term abortion after discovering that the fetus she was carrying had no brain and its organs were outside its body. Abortions need to be legal and safe in many situations; otherwise, girls and women die from botched illegal abortions.
For Further Information: John H. Richardson, “The Last Abortion Doctor.” Esquire. 5 August 2009 <http://www.esquire.com/features/abortion-doctor-warren-hern-0909>.
For Further Information: John H. Richardson, “The Last Abortion Doctor.” Esquire 152.3 (2009): 134-171.
For Further Information: Rabbi Shira Stern, “Chipping Away at a Woman’s Rights.” Los Angeles Times. 30 October 1995.
For Further Information: Jennifer Coburn, “Parental Consent Laws Are Harmful to Teens.” Abortion. Ed. Tamara Roleff. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1997. 96-99. Opposing Viewpoints. Ser.
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