The New York Times created quite a controversy earlier this year when it published an account of one woman’s decision to have an abortion. The Times didn’t disclose that the woman in question was a prominent abortion rights activist and the reasons she gave for the abortion read like a right wing parody of the pro-choice movement.
The essay describes the decision Amy Richards made when she found out she was pregnant with triplets. Richards decided to abort two of the fetuses. The article identified Richards as a freelance writer, but left out the fact that she has also worked for Planned Parenthood and is a founder of the Third Wave Foundation which, among other things, has paid for abortions.
But what pro-lifers seized on was Richards explanation that she aborted the two fetuses largely for lifestyle reasons. Richards told the Times’ Amy Barrett,
“My immediate response was I cannot have triplets. I was not married; I lived in a five-story walk-up in the East Village; I worked freelance; and I would have to go on bed rest in March. I lecture at colleges, and my biggest months are March and April. I would have to give up my main income for the rest of the year. There was a part of me that was sure I could work around that. But it was a matter of, do I want to? I looked at Peter and asked the doctor: ‘Is it possible to get rid of one of them? Or two of them?’ The obstetrician wasn’t an expert in selective reduction, but she knew that with a shot of potassium chloride you could eliminate one or more.”
Elsewhere in the article, Richards complained that if she actually went through with having the triplets, “I’ll have to start shopping only at Costco and buying big jars of mayonnaise.”
All-in-all the article was an early Christmas present for the anti-abortion movement. Way to go, Amy.
Source:
When One Is Enough. Amy Richards as told to Amy Barrett, New York Times, July 18, 2004.