Do they actually think that the woman who COMES to the clinic for an abortion hasn't...oh...thought about it a bit?

Its not like choosing between Lemon or Raspberry Snapple whilst shopping.

It IS insulting.

...this actually humongous, scary totally life-changing direction/decision

is done on the spur -a fit of whimsy- of an impulsive moment.

B.S.

More frakking Patriarchal B.S.

It's a big decision. Why is a waiting period such a bad thing?

There are many women who have no regrets about having had an abortion. There are many women who have had regrets. If a woman is young and stressed, for instance, a waiting period seems like a sensible thing.

Do they actually think that the woman who COMES to the clinic for an abortion hasn't...oh...thought about it a bit?

Apparently, sometimes not.

From the NYT article:

Dr. Wicklund describes her horror when she aborted the pregnancy of a woman who had been raped, only to discover, by examining the removed tissue, that the pregnancy was further along than she or the woman had thought — and that she had destroyed an embryo the woman and her husband had conceived together. And she describes the way she watches and listens as the women she treats tell why they want to end their pregnancies. If she detects uncertainty or thinks they may be responding to the wishes of anyone other than themselves, she says, she tells them to think it over a bit longer.

If these clinics were selling cars -- or nose jobs, or vasectomies, or houses, or ANYTHING else -- all these pro-choicers would be on the other side of the issue. It would be a breach of professional ethics to perform a procedure that the patient hasn't had a waiting period to think about -- UNLESS of course it's an abortion. The pro-choice mentality trumps all.

Many decisions to abort ARE done in panic, in crisis . . . and the women later regret it, and nothing they can do can ever bring that child back.

But of course this can never be true, can it? And even if it was true in a minority of cases, then you can NEVER support a waiting period, can you?

to *assume* that all women need to spend more time "thinking" about having an abortion. Of course there is nothing "wrong" with waiting and thinking about such a decision as you so disingenuously suggest --

Because that is what these prescribed/enforced waiting periods are based on, this insulting and ultimately diminishing assumption that women are prone to less-than-rational, snap decisions regarding their health and well-being. Have you ever been treated as a simpleton and incapable of making your own decisions? Would you like to have that codified into law? That's what these rules do, period-- and only to women.

Oh, and try reading the passage you quoted very carefully -- she wasn't suggesting that *all* women need enforced "thinking time", she was talking about cases when the patient is clearly still struggling with her decision. Because, even though we are fragile, and in desperate need of strong, manly men like you to force us to stop and think about these difficult decisions that we usually take so lightly -- in the end, at least for now, it is our decision.

I certainly hope that you do your part by sticking to your vow of chastity-- the very best way to stop unwanted pregnancies, right? Then you don't have to worry about irrational women making these snap decisions to terminate pregnancies on a whim.

...Then, 48, then a week, and before you know it, they'll pass a nine-month waiting period. They're just trying to run out the clock.

Who is "Dr. Wicklund" to assume she knows what these women are thinking?

How paternalistic of her!

Would other doctors have the same opinion of who might need more time to think over this highly invasive medical procedure?

She should be ashamed of herself.

As does the doctor quoted, I think. The "waiting period" is actually an obstacle thrown in the path of women who can't AFFORD to wait. Or are you too ill informed to have heard that there are whole states in this country with only one clinic that performs abortions? Poor women, indigent women, women with limited means of transportation, who live in places like that simply can't come back tomorrow.

Religiously motivated fanatics have slowly been chipping away at our rights with just such bullshit "protections" as the 24-hour waiting period. Once again, it's not about caring for the mother OR the potential child - if it were, these people would be lobbying for plenty of AFTER-birth care, which of course they can't give a crap about.

The "waiting period" has never been about protection, but about control, and about taking away people's rights a little at a time, using lies and hypocrisy to do the deed because it can't get done in a straightforward manner. It's that whole pickle about abortion being legal and all - really gets in the way of keeping control.

Abortion is not, at least in the places where I have lived, a same day service. If a woman could walk in, request an abortion, and have the procedure in the matter of an afternoon, then, perhaps, a waiting period would be reasonable. But that isn't how the process goes. First you have to find a clinic. Depending on where you live, this may require some travel planning. Once you get on the schedule somewhere, it will likely be a week to a month before your appointment. If you are having a surgical procedure, you may be turned away because the pregnancy hasn't progressed far enough or has progressed too far. In short, there is plenty of time for a woman to think about the decision she is making without the government creating more delay.

There should be absolutely NO question whatsoever about the desire of a woman who wants a particular medical procedure done...

But if she wants breast implants or a shot of Botox or a face lift, it's time to totally doubt the authenticity of her desires because she was brainwashed by Teh Patriarchy into having a poor body image.

Get it now, you paternalistic bastard?