A Different Perspective on Abortion

A remarkable piece in the LA Times: "Abortion foes begin to make their case in Russia," with stunning quotes and commentary by Russian abortion practitioners and women who have undergone abortions. Here is a short excerpt from a woman who was an "abortionist" for many years (the term used in the story):

These days, Chechneva is writing magazine articles about fetus development in hope of raising public opposition to abortion. After years of handling fetuses, she explains, she has come to feel a responsibility toward the unborn children.

"They should realize that what they're doing is already a murder," she said.

One surprising angle to the story is that a mainstream US newspaper would even run it. Another is the complete lack of reference to any religious influence, as discussed in more detail in a fine Get Religion post "Abortion in a strangely faithless Russia." The closest the LA Times article comes to touching on religion is this reference to spirituality from a Russian politican:

"The spiritual position," said Natalia Karpovich, a leader of the State Duma committee focused on family, women and children, "should be that this is murder and the woman who does this commits a sin. Still, I want to stress it's a woman's choice."

Comments

[ed42]

Here is another "different perspective" on abortion:

http://www.ncc-1776.org/tle2008/tle485-20080921-02.html

[DCL]

There might be a demographic angle to this, since the Russian government has been trying to increase the natural birth rate for the last several years.

[Anon]

The next paragraph explains that the "different perspective" is probably underwritten by the government:

"A fledgling antiabortion movement is beginning to stir in Russia. Driven by a growing discussion of abortion as a moral issue and, most of all, by a government worried about demographics, doctors and politicians are quietly struggling to lower what is believed to be one of the world’s highest abortion rates."