As McCain Belittles "Health" of a Woman and Abortion, These Three Know Better

With a hint of a smile on his face, John McCain's hooked-finger emphasis of a pregnant woman's "health" and the issue of abortion during the final presidential debate has drawn a lot of fire. The word most commonly used to describe his behavior? Mocking.

Jason Linkins at Huffington Post writes:

I had never seen the matter of a woman's health given AIR SCARE QUOTES. But that's precisely what John McCain did, sneeringly, as he attempted to portray support for a mother's health as an extreme position, when in fact, it is a mainstream position -- ground that even fervent pro-life individuals often concede.

In her commentary for the Women's Media Center, Peggy Simpson notes:

Here’s what McCain responded, his voice rising in moral indignation: “He’s [for] health for the mother. You know, that’s been stretched by the pro-abortion movement in America to mean almost anything. That’s the extreme pro-abortion position, quote ‘health.’”...McCain’s “health” exemption statement Wednesday showed his to be the extreme position: he differed with current law. The U.S. Supreme Court has struck down abortion bans that do not contain exemptions for the health and life of the mother.

Over at Crooks and Liars, here's Nicole Bell's take:

In trying to paint Obama as being for the great Republican bugaboo of late term abortions (because, you know, there are so many women running around and deciding after being pregnant for six or more months that being pregnant is no longer convenient for them), Obama replied that he didn't vote for the late term abortion ban because it had no provision for the health or life of the mother. And that's when McCain proved how heartless and clueless he is.

Bell links to a powerful Women' eNews article with personal stories of women whose lives were seriously endangered by their pregnancies and were saved by late term abortions:

[Tammy] Watts was in the eighth month of a much-wanted pregnancy and was eagerly anticipating the birth of her first child. During a routine ultrasound (the only way to detect abnormalities that require late-term abortion), she discovered her baby had Trisomy 13, a chromosomal abnormality that causes severe deformities and carries no hope of survival.

Because her baby was already dying and because this put her own life at stake, Watts had an intact dilation and extraction (D and X)...."Losing my baby at the end of my pregnancy was agonizing," says Watts. "But the way the right deals with this issue makes it even worse...."

Watts and other women affected by this issue have tried to make legislators listen....When Congress first considered the ban in 1995, Watts testified on Capitol Hill. So did Viki Wilson of Fresno, Calif., who had a late-term abortion because the brain of the fetus she was carrying had developed outside the skull. So did Vikki Stella of Naperville, Ill., whose fetus had dwarfism, no brain tissue and seven other major abnormalities.

All three women told legislators they owed their health to late-term abortions and that a continuation of their doomed pregnancies posed grave health risks such as stroke, paralysis, infertility or even death....Watts, Stella and Wilson point out that in virtually all cases, late-term abortions are the only way to respond to unanticipated complications: the death of the fetus inside the womb, problems that mean the fetus can't live outside the womb, or serious threats to the mother's health.

"No women has these procedures for frivolous reasons," says Stella. "They have them because it's their only choice."

During the final debate, instead of fixating so much on Joe the Plumber (who isn't even licensed or registered as a plumber in Ohio and owes back taxes), he should have focused on Tammy, Viki, and Vikki - the stories of three women who would have done anything not to end their life-threatening pregnancies in abortion, but who thankfully are alive to tell the tale.