Daniel
Herbster reporting
An
Indiana county is considering an ordinance which would, as the Journal
Gazette reports, “require all surgeons and doctors that provide outpatient
invasive procedures to have ties to a local hospital and have on-call,
after-hours staff to handle emergencies.”
Proponents of the measure say the ordinance would protect patient health,
especially women’s health. I interviewed
Cathie Humbarger of Allen County Right to
Life about the ordinance, particularly concerning its pro-life
implications.
DH: Cathie, thanks for taking to time to inform
our readers about the proposed ordinance in Allen County, Indiana. First of all, what does your work at Allen
County Right to Life involve and what kinds of things does ACRL work on?
CH: It’s
my pleasure, Dan. Thanks for inviting me.
Just to review: On January 22, 1973, the Supreme Court
legalized abortion in the United
States from conception through the ninth
month of pregnancy. Since that date, over 45 million abortions have been
performed at the rate of approximately one every 20 seconds. Right here in Fort Wayne approximately
fifteen abortions are completed each Thursday at the local abortion clinic.
In response to this situation, the Allen County Right
to Life Committee, Inc. was incorporated in March of 1976 and Three Rivers
Right to Life Educational Trust Fund, Inc. was founded in December of 1982 to
promote respect for innocent life from the moment of fertilization to natural
death. We agree with the self-evident truth that every human person is endowed
by their Creator with an unalienable right to life that must be defended. This
principle leads us to promote a culture of life in our community, which we
accomplish through education in the social, religious, legal, medical,
scientific and legislative fields. We also believe that abortion, infanticide,
and euthanasia are negative, violent and primitive responses to complex social
problems that demand genuine compassion and rational, responsible thinking.
Further, we denounce fetal stem-cell research and human cloning because they
involve the willful destruction of human life. We reject the notion that
society may destroy innocent life to solve any problem. Our approach has always
been non-violent and legal. One of our goals is to look for every opportunity
to influence the legislative and political process with policies that support
and protect pre-born babies and their mothers where otherwise they would have
no voice.
DH: What would this ordinance do?