"When I was a fetus, I loved dill pickle ice cream"

[the post below is transcribed from an article that appeared in the Vancouver Province newspaper on January 22, 2006, written by Dr. Dave Hepburn. I appreciate his approach to the whole abortion issue and thought I'd share it here. Please note: I am not sharing my personal opinion on abortion, nor do I want to hear anyone else's. It's your opinion and matters to you. I DON'T CARE.]

"I recently attended a conference of the Canadian Physicians for Life because... well I'm Canadian, I enjoy Life and I play a Physician on Thursdays between 9 and 11.

I was impressed with the dignity, concern and thoughtfulness that was evident at the conference, at least prior to my arrival.

For some doctors, the issue of abortion is simple. Their response to this ethical dilemma is to send every girl who believes she wants an abortion to the local abortionist and let them work it out. Easy case. Others wrestle with each case individually and set up a counselling process. Others still are uncomfortable being involved in the abortion process for any reason other than the most dire. It is in that latter pool that I have come to swim and possibly drown.

Given the back and forth form assorted lobby groups, it may be difficult to develop an informed opinion on this sensitive issue but, given the unexpectedness with which your opinion may be required, it is important that you form your own opinion, and that it be exactly the same as mine.

Q: Shouldn't, as Morgenthaler says, every child be a wanted child?
A: Every child is wanted. Every pregnancy is not. Thousands of couples spend thousands of dollars to adopt thousands of children from East Yaopingyanski. Doctors constantly receive requests from those who would love the opportunity to raise a child. Every child is wanted... by someone.

Q: What about a woman's right to do with her body as she pleases?
A: It is against the law for a woman to sell her body or do certain things to or with it. But a growing fetus is, in fact, not her body. It has its own distinct DNA, it has its own genomic character. An appendix or a toenail is part of our body but a fetus is a distinct society. My mother like rutabaga and tofu but as a young fetus (don't we all miss those halcyon days) I rejected that stuff being rammed through my belly button and made it known I needed dill pickle ice cream and peanut buster parfaits with ketchup. We were and are different, genomically and gastronomically speaking.

Q: But a fetus is not a fully developed human being.
A: Fetus is from the Latin for "young child." After 12 weeks, nothing new develops in a fetus. It has everything in place; from there it simply matures. Two-year-olds are no less human than the more developed five-year-olds. They are just meaner.

Q: But being pregnant can be an inconvenience that causes stretch marks, and personally I just spent thousand for implants so it isn't a good time for me to...
A: Listen, Q, I remember you before implants, when you were just a little q. You were OK, er... ok. But yes, this is among the many reasons we hear why a woman wants an abortion.

Q: What is a partial birth abortion?
A: I would suggest that if you want to know how you really feel about abortion, go to any website that describes partial birth abortion. If that doesn't put goosebumps on your goosebumps, then nothing in this column will make any difference to you.

As many doctors wrestle with our stewardship to the expectant mother, I can't help but be concerned with the lack of concern for the unborn child that has too often turned an ethical decision into a mere gynecological inconvenience. What's the answer? I don't know --but I suspect it must involve dill pickle ice cream."