Anna North
"Hearings will determine if Missouri will be the first state without an abortion clinic."
Vox, October 31, 2019
Anna North breaks down the most recent national abortion controversy in this convoluted narrative. In essence, the issue at hand involves health officials in Missouri tracking the menstrual data of abortion patients in order to investigate the possibilities of failed abortion procedures. The controversy comes from several recent actions from abortion opponents across the nation that are similar in vein, as abortion activists and doctors alike perceive the new trend as an attack on women's reproductive rights. North outlines their main concerns by tieing the developments in Missouri to those at the federal level, as pro-life politicians seek to impose more control over and restrictions on abortion clinics. As seen in many of her informative essays, there is a notable amount of reason and statistical data that lies in North's arguments. She effectively supports claims of the relative safeness of the procedure that exists in the majority of licensed abortion clinics through hard evidence, and she is fond of using the words of well-known personalities to her advantage. While it is kept to a minimum, there still naturally exists some form of emotional appeal, as North uses a sort of last-ditch attempt to victimize abortion doctors, implying that they are simply innocent, hard-working members of society. Regardless of the moral truth, North's stances remain clearer than typically seen in her pieces, though that might only further show her understanding of her audience and rhetorical situation.
While failed abortions are exceedingly rare, the notion of potential illegal practices in such cases should remain a point of concern for both sides of the abortion debate. Such attempts to make abortions safer by those who would rather criminalize them seem overshadowed and misinterpreted by many pro-choice activists, and I wish the author would have acknowledged this more, rather than assume the innocence and victimhood of abortion clinics and doctors around the nation.
ReplyDeleteNorth’s article does a commendable job of shining light on an issue that has not received media attention until quite recently: “failed” abortion. However, the scope of North’s column does not stop there; instead, she moves on to discuss how this issue of how this rare occurrence in medical care has fuelled pro-life politicians and Americans alike, even though the rate of “failed” abortions is exactly that — rare. Rather than opining on how those against abortion are despicable or uncaring, North seems to base most of her counterpoints in logic and raw data, thus more effectively proving how these anti-abortion statements are unfounded.
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