Dr. LeRoy Carhart Vows to Teach Others

Newsweek.com is featuring an article by Sarah Kliff on Dr. LeRoy Carhart entitled, "The Abortion Evangelist." As mentioned in the full article, although Dr. Carhart is one of more than 1,800 abortion providers throughout the United States, he is one of a much smaller number of abortion providers to perform what are commonly referred to as "late abortions" (after 22-24 weeks).

It is clear, as you read the article, that the author is not overtly pro-choice (using terms such as "late term" and "pro-life"), but unlike many in the mainstream media, Sarah Kliff looks at both Dr. Carhart's medical practice and his humanity.

Here's some of what she has to say in the article:

Carhart can't pinpoint how exactly he went from reluctant visitor to controversial abortion provider, why he chose a job that attracts death threats and protesters. Part of it is stubbornness; he won't be bullied out of what he sees as a legitimate medical specialty. "Abortion is not a four-letter word," he says. "I'm proud of what I do."

But if Carhart is proud of his practice, he seems equally burdened by it. He talks about being an abortion doctor not necessarily as a career choice, but as a job he had to take since few others would. "It's like that quotation: 'If not you, who? If not now, when?' That whole thing," he says, giving a modified version of a Hillel quotation ("If I am not for myself, who will be for me? And if I am always for myself, what am I?"). He won't take long vacations because "you can't leave the women waiting, or at least don't want to." He maintains medical licenses in seven states so that if another provider is "hurt, retired, or killed," he can step in. If women need this service, Carhart reasons, who is he to say no? If he won't provide these complex and challenging abortions, who will?

The article goes on later to say...

Friends have advised Carhart to stop appearing on television, that he's only making himself more of a target. But he doesn't believe in keeping quiet, especially when it comes to abortion. "That's the last thing Tiller would want," he says. "If we give in, they win, and that's unacceptable." A wave of anti-abortion violence in the 1990s—three doctors killed in five years—coincided with a dramatic drop in providers, from 2,680 in 1985 to 1,787 in 2005. Carhart worries that if he and other doctors retreat, Tiller will have the same legacy. Besides, he says, he's already done thousands of abortions—stopping now wouldn't do much to temper the anger of those who oppose him.

Click here to read the article in its entirety, and here to watch the accompanying video.

Photo courtesy of alexandralee on flickr.com.