1. 23:30 22nd Jan 2012

    Mother Jones ›› End of the Road

    “In the beginning, Rashbaum had problems performing abortions. First, there were his father’s objections. “Growing up, the worst thing my dad could say about another doctor was he did abortions,” he says. Like the other board-certified doctors who were suddenly doing procedures previously relegated to back alleys, Rashbaum lacked training in the necessary medical techniques. “None of us knew what we were doing,” he says. “The only people who knew how to do abortions were the criminals.” Rashbaum and his colleagues practically taught themselves how to perform abortions and were limited by the crude instruments of those days — Dixie cups attached to the suction machine by rubber bands. And although Rashbaum felt he was performing a necessary service, it weighed heavily on his conscience.”

    I have complex feelings about abortion. I think for many people it’s a difficult subject to not have complex feelings about. I’ve spent the last half-hour trying to come up with an adequate follow-up sentence to that. I’m going to go with: things are in many ways better than they were. Thank God. I hope they get better still.