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The Daily Dish - 2006-2011 archives for The Daily Dish, featuring Andrew Sullivan

O'Reilly's Grandstanding

By The Daily Dish
May 31 2009, 6:09 AM ET

A reader writes:

I know it's a minor point in the scheme of this story, but that interview with the girl who had an abortion was utterly incoherent. The procedure was completely legal and ethical -- a girl accompanied by her parents had an abortion at 20 weeks. She received counseling and seems to have undergone a waiting period -- the abortion took place five days after she arrived.

If O'Reilly believes that this was a terrible thing, why isn't he blaming the girls parents? They made the decision. The doctor simply performed a legal and ethical procedure with what sounds like care and professionalism.

In any other case, O'Reilly would be crowing about parental responsibility. Here, he shamelessly shifts the blame. The girl speaks of the abortion as if neither she nor her parents knew what an abortion was. I have no doubt that some women and girls who have abortions later regret their decision. But that doesn't obviate the fact that it was their decision, and/or their parents', not the choice of the doctor who did the procedure.


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