Haven Group Motivated By Politics

How pro-choice do you think you are? James Taranto of the Wall Street Journal considers himself moderately pro-choice. After reading the December 12 issue of New York magazine, however, he writes in his blog, Best of the Web, "After reading this piece, we're a lot more sympathetic to the anti-abortion side of the debate." The article, titled "The New Underground Abortion Railroad: Destination New York," gives an inside look at the Haven Coalition, an organization that provides overnight accommodation to pregnant women from out of town who come here for third-trimester abortions.

The author, Debbie Nathan, describes herself as a middle-aged white woman, who is hosting a young black woman named Adeena. In fact, Ms. Nathan writes: "Most Haven hosts are white, Jewish, well-schooled, and political. Some are empty-nesters with beds to spare and memories of the '60s and '70s women's movement; many are young idealists with matchbox apartments and roommates who don't mind an extra body crashing in the living room. Meanwhile, most of the women helped by Haven are black and Latina, with GEDs or less, low literacy skills, and not much civic moxie."

Perhaps Mr. Taranto was disturbed by details of what's involved in a late term abortion, which is usually a two-part process. Ms. Nathan describes why Adeena is having trouble being more sociable. She's going through a lot of pain. Nathan writes: "This afternoon, sticks made of seaweed were inserted into her cervix, and a drug that causes fetal heart failure was injected into her belly. Now the seaweed is getting moist and swelling, and Adeena no longer feels movement in her womb. By tomorrow the swelling will have opened her cervix a few centimeters, allowing a doctor to extract the dead fetus with surgical tools and a vacuum machine."

I read the article three times and there are so many factors at work here, it's hard to pinpoint which I found the most disturbing. Ms. Nathan's rationale for taking part in this program is reminiscent of Margaret Sanger's stated mission in founding Planned Parenthood. Ms. Nathan writes about the difficulty for these poor uneducated women to find the money for this expensive procedure, which can only be found here in New York City, the abortion capital of the nation. Sanger was a eugenicist who believed that the lower classes should not be allowed to breed; throughout the New York magazine article, Ms. Nathan reveals an unconscious contempt for her visitors. She admits to having class anxieties and is annoyed when one visitor mocks her neighbors.

After reading the article, my daughter wisely wondered whether the Haven volunteers would even be hosting these women if they weren't pregnant. After Adeena's abortion is over, Ms. Nathan writes: "In a few hours, she'll be back on a bus to Philadelphia, free to do her thing, whatever that may be." It seems to me that the Haven Coalition's apparent charitable mission is motivated more by politics than humane concern.

What I found absolutely heartbreaking in the article were the dim futures of these women who are being taught that no matter how irresponsible they are about sex, there will always be misguided mentors to clean up their messes. One patient told her Haven host that she wanted to go out dancing till 2 a.m. The next day, her baby would be dead.

The Haven women never appear to ask their visitors why they waited so long. Why not? Ms. Nathan herself admits that she's had more than one abortion. Does she consider abortion a cure-all? Ms. Nathan writes that Haven members have opened their homes this year to 125 of the 2,000 women who have had late-term abortions in New York, including a 10-yearold. Ten years old! Did anybody even consider calling the police or Child Health Services?

We live in what has become a sex-saturated society and we don't have to wonder who revels in that fact. The front cover of this particular New York issue features Howard Stern, whom Bernard Goldberg lists as no. 62 in his book, "100 People Who Are Screwing Up America." He calls Mr. Stern "a form of pollution, as a kind of sludge that runs through our culture today."

Thousands of people showed up in Manhattan last week to hail Mr. Stern's move to satellite radio. The crowd included moronic women who showed up naked, baring their plastic mammaries in salute to the king of sleaze. Mr. Stern, the poster boy for arrested development, promised to shove his fist up the "religious right." Mr. Stern may think he's only fighting a war with the Federal Communications Commission, but the collateral damage can be found in Adeenas of Philadelphia and the dismembered results of the unbridled sex he's so fond of promoting.