Why Is Norway the Best Place to Be a Mother and the U.S. the Worst? Abortion Access

[MrScorpio]

June 8, 2011

This article is cross-posted from ANSIRH (Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Health), a website of the Bixby Center for Global Reproductive Health

It was the “of course” in Dr. Anja Hauge’s (not her real name) e-mail to me that was my first hint that when it comes to abortion, Norway and the United States exist in two different universes.

On a recent visit, I had asked a Norwegian colleague to arrange an interview for me with a physician involved in abortion provision. Dr. Hauge, a prominent gynecologist, agreed to meet with me, and in her introductory e-mail, mentioned that she worked in a large hospital department, where “we, of course, also provide abortions.”

“Of course”?! In the United States, to use “abortion,” “hospital” and “of course” in the same sentence is oxymoronic. Only about 5 percent of all abortions performed in the United States occur in hospitals, and even these relatively few procedures are increasingly under attack. The Republican-led Congress, in one of its first acts after taking control in January, passed the Orwellian-named “Protect Life” Act which stipulates that hospitals receiving federal funds are permitted to refuse abortions to women in life-threatening situations. Just recently, the House passed the so-called Foxx amendment, which would withhold newly available funds for comprehensive medical training from hospitals that provide abortion training

When I met Dr. Hauge in person, my sense of being on a different planet intensified. To summarize our conversation:

Abortion is “completely integrated” into the Norwegian health care system, paid for (like other medical procedures) by the government, and available virtually everywhere in the country;

ob/gyn residents are expected to undergo training in abortion provision, and though opt-out provisions exist, very few young physicians make use of them;

health care professionals involved in abortion provision are neither sanctioned by medical colleagues nor harassed by anti-abortion activists.

Abortion, in short, is largely a non-politicized issue, both within Norwegian medical circles, and the population at large.

http://www.alternet.org/story/151251/why_is_norway_the_best_place_to_be_a_mother_and_the_u.s._the_worst_abortion_access/

[TheWraith]

1. Somehow, I don't think abortion coverage is the sole thing a prospective mother needs. nt

[MrScorpio]

2. That's true

But if you look at the fact that the anti-choice crowd are also behind the drive in this country to reduce and eliminate publicly funded health care as a whole, it's clear to see that their efforts to politicize all of it, by targeting abortion specifically, has far reaching consequences.

[eShirl]

3. it's an indication of the society's priorities and values. n/t

[joeybee12]

6. Because access to abortion and a mature, non-fundy attitude towards it

means they are serious about women's health...you can't be anti-choice and say you're a supportre of women's access to total healthcare.

[eridani]

7. It is inextricably linked with very generous family benefits

And a raft of social support programs that sound like fairy tales here.

[TheWraith]

8. Then perhaps they should say that, instead of a stupid and misleading headline. nt

[Extend a Hand]

4. I just read "The Girls Who Went Away

The hidden history of Women who surrendered children for doption in the decades before Roe v. Wade"

(And by read I mean cried my way through it). I finally at fifty worked up the courage to do a search for my natural family. If I had I read this book earlier I would've done it sooner.

Abortion may not be the only factor but it is absolutely a key element in determining whether you live in a good place to be a mother or not.

[Shagbark Hickory]

5. Yeah Yeah yeah. Norway is just great.

We know this already. Norway, Finland, Sweden. They're the best.
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