Father Orthoduck has been having an offline conversation with a friend over the Virginia law. For those of you who are not aware, pro-life legislators approved a bill that requires a trans-vaginal ultrasound before a woman can have an abortion. That particular requirement has been causing a lot of upheaval around the country. Fr. Orthoduck and his friend are both pro-life, but have different opinions on that particular aspect of the law. Below is part of the conversation we have been having. I have edited some parts of it because part of our conversation was medically descriptive:
Hmm, I see what you are saying. Let me answer it this way. Often a thing itself is not evil, it is the use to which the thing is put. For instance the chemical formulation used in the birth control pill can also be used to normalize menstrual rhythms or to prevent some types of ovarian cysts. A Roman Catholic bishop objects to one use, but not the other. …
The reason trans-vaginal ultrasound machines exist is a sound and healthy one. A woman accepts it … regardless of any discomfort there may be because she wants to find out if there are cysts, tumors, etc. But, when that probe is legally forced … against her will, then it is no surprise that rape and violation terminology begins to be used. Were this procedure to be forced on a woman in any other situation, the person performing the procedure would be jailed for a sex crime. This is why I commented that one evil does not justify another. This is also why I commented that we, in this country, have used that type of reasoning to say that because terrorists do horrible things, we can do other horrible things to them, like waterboarding, etc.
It is all too easy to justify a “lesser” evil with a greater evil. That is how the western part of the Church got into trouble during what became the Inquisition. If you could “encourage” a heretic to repent, then you could absolve them and keep them from hell by having the secular power kill them before they could recant and be damned again. So, if we can make it sufficiently “uncomfortable” and abhorrent for pregnant women to jump through the hoops, then we can prevent the greater evil of abortion, right? The problem with that type of reasoning is deciding where the stopping point is. Because we have been unable to stop abortion, Christians have been concentrating on chipping away at the edges with various laws to delay and/or circumscribe the process. We have tried to pass laws to ensure that abortion clinics have to follow all the regulations that any clinic must follow. This is quite sensible, particularly since pro-choice people have tried to insulate the process from any and all regulation, something which they would not allow for any other medical undertaking, especially the times when minors are involved. But, the Virginia law has crossed a clear and definite line and put us on the side of those who argued similarly in the 12th century.
In passing, neutral information on this procedure is found on the website of the National Institute of Health at http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/003779.htm.
The reason why Father Orthoduck says that a line has been crossed is that a trans-vaginal ultrasound, in an otherwise healthy woman, does not really reveal any necessary additional detail that cannot be gained by a regular ultrasound. Father Orthoduck is in agreement with laws that seek to delay an abortion in order to give a woman time to think about what she is about to do. He is in agreement with laws that require a better informed consent before an abortion than are currently in existence in many states. He is also convinced that certain abortion procedures should be prohibited because regardless of one’s view on abortion, those procedures (such as a partial birth abortion, which is now illegal) are morally repugnant in a special way. But, in the same way, there is a difference between an ultrasound and a trans-vaginal ultrasound. There is a difference between a procedure that, at worst, is inconvenient and a procedure that many women would, and do, regard as unnecessarily invasive and even repugnant in a special way, because of the history of women’s fight against rape, unless medically justified.
Father Orthoduck is convinced that elective abortions need to be stopped. But they need to be stopped with the right means. The saying that the, “ends justify the means,” was written by Prince Niccolo Machiavelli in the same Middle Ages that provided us the Inquisition. Against that, and against that history, Christians have since argued that the ends do NOT justify the means. Father Orthoduck will argue that the Church cannot afford to return to the thinking of those who called themselves Christian in the Middle Ages in order to wipe out a great evil. The ends do NOT justify the means.
[Later note: Father Orthoduck was just asked by his friend if Father Orthoduck is in favor of a proposed Ohio law that would ban abortion once a fetal heartbeat is detectable. Yes, Father Orthoduck is in favor of it. However, he is aware of a sad split in the pro-life movement over this. Father Orthoduck is normally on the side that says that we need to chip away at the law by approving laws that have a chance of passing judicial muster, since we have been unsuccessful at banning elective abortions. However, there is a growing constituency within the pro-life movement that is in favor of an all out approach. Father Orthoduck realizes that the “incrementalist” side of the pro-life movement is arguing that this law could easily result in a judicial interpretation that would actually make the path more difficult. But a part of Father Orthoduck would not mind a bold step. There are people with a long history of pro-life activity on both sides of this question, so it may be best to pull back a bit and keep unity rather than having one wing force the issue and perhaps split the movement. That is always the problem with reform movements. You start with a Reformation and end up with 20,000 denominations.]
Thank you, Father. As a woman, I feel particularly vulnerable right now. It is not just the Right’s war on abortion, but women in general. Conservative (HA!) legislatures around the country are making it more difficult to enforce protection orders in domestic violence cases, make arrests in domestic violence cases and changing the language in rape/sexual violence cases to refer to victims as “accusers.”
I cannot, for the life of me, figure out why they are doing this. And without irony, many of these same individuals believe that our rights and judicial system is under threat from Sharia. It boggles the mind.
Truly.
Thank you again. You have brought me encouragement this week.
Ahhh-here is trouble but I’ll try to be sensitive. First, I am a child of God. Second, I am female, live in Virginia and I am a sonographer-better known as an ultrasound tech so I have alot of dogs in this fight. I am appalled at the overreach of the Virginia legislature in this matter. This law is ONLY to make women…who (most anyway) have already gone through a wretching emotional crisis to come to the decision to abort go through more humiliation and cost in an effort to “change their minds”. A transvaginal ultrasound is actually a part of an abortion anyway. It is used to make sure of the woman’s anatomy and fetal age as well as to make sure there are no other medical problems-such as an ectopic pregnancy or a molar pregnancy (which starts as a pregnancy but becomes a cancer)-which could kill the woman. A transabdominal ultrasound does NOT show enough detail in very early pregnancy to even date the pregnancy-particularly in larger women-let alone deter a woman by showing her a picture of her “baby”. A baby at 6 to 10 weeks gestation does not look like a baby…even by transvaginal ultrasound. One of the state senators is a doctor I work with and he explained that only a transvaginal u/s could do what the legislature wanted…so they KNEW that they were actually advocating state sponsered vaginal penetration-more commonly called rape. When the governor rightfully started backing away from that requirement, they decided to make it a law for a transabdominal u/s. So the only thing this law is for is to make women jump through more hoops…as you stated…and more expense. They have not even addressed the issue of where these women are supposed to get these ultrasounds done, since you can’t just walk into a hospital and ask for one. I find this repugnant and it frankly infuriates me. This law is essentially saying that women aren’t smart enough to realize just what they are doing when they choose abortion and that disgusts me-regardless of the fact that I would dearly love to see the rate of abortion drop and more women choose life. Since I am a sonographer and I actually have done both ob u/s and pediatric u/s, I probably hold a more progressive view of abortion than many of my spiritual brethren, because I see what these women are going through-particularly in the face of an abnormality. Very few actually choose abortion as birthcontrol (which also disgusts me). Most of the women I have met who have had abortions did so as a last resort and only after much heartache. I have a friend who still has pain from her decision 20 years ago and she says this would only make it worse. (BTW, she also says she would do it again despite the pain if the circumstances were the same). Now do I wish we could make abortion go away…yes. In a perfect world, all children would be healthy and wanted with parent/s who can and will love and provide for them. Unfortunately, not everyone has the support of family and/or church. Add to that the current discussion about contraception and it is very confusing. The same group who is so ardently pro-life also opposes birth control…not sure that makes any sense unless they are in the business of legislating morality-which I guess is the point with our country right now. We need to remember that we are NOT a theocracy and there are millions in this country who do not hold any religious views or else disdain any religious views and that is their right also. I guess I have always had a really hard time with ANYONE telling a woman what they can do with their own body…I have always felt that it was a matter for a woman and her family and God as she knows Him. Maybe I need to pray about it some more.
My sis had to have one of those trans-vaginal ultrasounds because she had some female issues. She says it is VERY uncomfortable. I am Orthodox, but I believe this forcing of the T-V ultrasound on women is a violation. I believe that a regular ultrasound is just as good. I am concerned that there is a war on women myself. It is as if we are “more evil” than men are in this country. This is ridiculous!