{"id":208859,"date":"2019-08-20T08:36:10","date_gmt":"2019-08-20T13:36:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=208859"},"modified":"2022-01-07T12:21:29","modified_gmt":"2022-01-07T18:21:29","slug":"pro-choice-obgyn-israel-abortions-unrestricted","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/pro-choice-obgyn-israel-abortions-unrestricted\/","title":{"rendered":"Former abortionist horrified to learn that in Israel, abortions are virtually unrestricted"},"content":{"rendered":"
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It may seem that abortion supporters have no limits, and with the agenda being pushed — abortion on demand, at any time, for any reason, with taxpayer funding — it’s hard to imagine any abortion that wouldn’t<\/em> meet the approval of an abortion advocate. But while the extremists often have the microphone, even so-called “pro-choicers” have lines in the sand that they aren’t willing to cross. One OB\/GYN, a former abortionist, wrote in the Atlantic about the difficulties she’s having with late-term eugenic abortions<\/a> in Israel, explaining how she has found the “outer limits” of her abortion beliefs.<\/p>\n

Originally from the U.S., Chavi Eve Karkowsky is an OB\/GYN currently living in Israel who specializes in maternal-fetal medicine. Her patients are generally high-risk. She began her op-ed by saying how she was afraid to tell a patient that, at 35 weeks pregnant, her baby’s head looked a bit small. “I needed to tell her about that small head and what it might mean for her future child\u2019s development,” she wrote<\/a>. “This is not uncommon; it\u2019s a situation I\u2019m used to dealing with easily. But in that room, I was overcome with a strong urge not to tell her what I\u2019d observed, because I feared where that discussion might lead.” Karkowsky was concerned that, if the patient knew of her concerns, she would elect to have a late-term abortion — and that was simply a bridge too far for her.<\/p>\n

Karkowsky explained that abortion is widely available in Israel, right up until the woman delivers her baby. “A subtle abnormality, such as the one I saw in that ultrasound room outside Tel Aviv, can prompt a discussion of pregnancy termination,” she said. “Even at 35 weeks.”<\/p>\n

READ:\u00a0Whoopi Goldberg lies, audience applauds: \u2018No such thing\u2019 as late-term abortion<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Though Karkowsky said she has not committed abortions herself “for years,” she still supports legal abortion, and made it clear that she does not support the recent pro-life bills passed in the United States. “But in that dark room so far from home, I was deeply uncomfortable discussing abortion with a woman 35 weeks into her pregnancy, when that fetus had no clearly lethal or debilitating problem,” she admitted.<\/p>\n

In Israel, Karkowsky said that any woman who wants to have an abortion must have it approved by a committee called the va\u2019ada. If the committee does not approve of the abortion, it is technically considered illegal — yet the abortions are approved almost every single time, with acceptable reasons being anything from an extramarital affair to a woman being over the age of 40. If the pregnancy is after 23 weeks, however, the process is a little more drawn out. Then, the woman has to have her abortion approved by a va’adat al, a higher level committee. Then, a fetal anomaly has to be detected and have at least a 30 percent chance of causing either moderate or severe disability.<\/p>\n