By Marla Crockett, KERA 90.1 Reporter
Dallas, TX – Marla Crockett, KERA 90.1 Reporter: Kae McLaughlin, Executive Director of the Texas Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League in Austin, says Access Texas wanted to know what would happen if Jane Q. Public called her local hospital to ask about abortion. The results from 222 public and private hospitals across the state, she says, are discouraging.
Kae McLaughlin, Executive Director, Texas Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League: We had hospital personnel telling our callers abortion was illegal.
Crockett: Just 11% surveyed said abortion was possible at their hospitals, but only under special circumstances or if the patient had an established relationship with a doctor. Abortion is an outpatient procedure and doesn't have to be done at a hospital, but that's not the way things used to be. In 1973, McLaughlin says, half of all abortions were performed there. But pressure from pro-life groups and hospital consolidations involving religious institutions have minimized their role. The result, McLaughlin contends, has been the ghettoization of abortions into a declining number of clinics, located in largely urban counties.
McLaughlin: Only 15 counties in the state of Texas out of 254 have an abortion provider. That's less than six percent of all Texas counties. Who's being hurt by this? The women who don't live in those 15 counties, who are taking food off kids' tables for the travel and lodging and child care.
Crockett: Kyleen Wright, president of the Texans for Life Coalition, sees things differently.
Kyleen Wright, President, Texans for Life Coalition: It says a lot about where Texans are on the nature of abortion if the marketplace won't even support abortion facilities in 94% of the counties in Texas. But the fact that doctors don't want to do it is an indication that the public and marketplace don't support it. Doctors want to be in the position of healing.
Crockett: Local hospital officials were reluctant to talk about the survey, but privately, some confirmed that restrictions are the rule. For example, at Parkland, Dallas County's public hospital, a three-member panel rules on all abortion requests, and the procedure typically isn't done unless there's a medical necessity. Dr. Vic Vines, a Dallas OBGYN, says most of his peers probably support the right of a woman to choose?
Dr. Vic Vines, Obstetrician-Gynecologist: I think they're not willing to compromise the hospitals' position in the market or the hospitals' availability to most people because of the abortion issue.
Crockett: Dr. Vines used to do abortions in the first four or five years of his practice, but says he discontinued them after seeing other providers shadowed by protesters. He was also concerned about his daughters.
Vines: Right now, the forces that provide information to them are those that would demonize abortion. I'm not in a place to challenge their belief in who I am, not willing to put them in a position to have their school and volleyball games picketed.
Crockett: At Medical City, where Dr. Vines practices, his decision to terminate a pregnancy for medical reasons has to be reviewed, but he faces no restrictions in doing sterilizations or prescribing emergency contraceptives - the morning-after pill, which prevents implantation of a fertilized egg. But according to Access Texas, two-thirds of surveyed hospitals don't offer the morning-after pill in their emergency rooms, even for rape victims; and more than one-third of hospitals decline to provide sterilization services for men and women. Their reasons are varied and not necessarily political, but Kae McLaughlin of TARAL wonders why prevention hasn't been more of a priority.
McLaughlin: The goal is to prevent pregnancy, and that's what we know we have public support for.
Crockett: Kyleen Wright, of Texans for Life, sees public opinion on her side.
Wright: We've made tremendous gains. 60% of the American public do not support abortion for any reason after the third month of pregnancy. The majority of people consider themselves pro-life in this country.
Crockett: Polls support some of what both women say, but on this issue, the public is deeply conflicted. According to Public Agenda, a non-partisan research organization, there is widespread support for contraception, but confusion about terms like "emergency contraceptives." Polls also consistently show more than half of the public simultaneously believes in choice and the immorality of abortion. The public's will is clearly seen, though, in support for restrictions. And both sides agree that's where the fight over abortion will be waged in the future. For KERA 90.1, I'm Marla Crockett.