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From: garys@bunker.UUCP (Gary M. Samuelson)
Newsgroups: net.abortion
Subject: Re: Re: Disposition of Aborted Fetuses
Message-ID: <869@bunker.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 11-Jun-85 10:38:06 EDT
Article-I.D.: bunker.869
Posted: Tue Jun 11 10:38:06 1985
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> From: garys@bunker.UUCP (Gary M. Samuelson) in <863@bunker.UUCP>:
> >
> >[...]
> >  But more than that, if there is money to be
> >made with aborted fetuses, this presents a colossal conflict
> >of interest to physicians.  It is already more lucrative for
> >a doctor to perform abortions than to take care of mother
> >and child through a complete pregnancy.
> 
> False.  Abortions cost around $250.  Hospital birth *alone* is
> reported to cost at least $1000, to say nothing of pre-natal
> visits, post-partum checkups, etc.  Your conflict of interest
> is a straw man.

The conflict of interest is quite real, and it ain't hay.

The figures you mention are the costs to the *patient*; what I am
talking about is how much a *physician* can make.  I know that *one*
hospital birth costs *the patient* more than *one* abortion.  However,
the *physician* can perform several abortions in the same time it
takes to attend one birth.

Furthermore, the hospital charges for birth are divided among
more people than the abortion fee.

For example, during my wife's pregnancy, her doctor charged a fee
of between $600 and $700, which covered prenatal care and delivery.
There was an initial visit after the pregnancy was confirmed, visits
every 4 weeks until the 6th month, every 3 weeks for the next 9
weeks, every other week for the next 4 weeks, and every week for
the last 4 weeks.  That totals 13 pre-natal visits, plus the
delivery.  Let's be conservative and say that each pre-natal
visit took about half the amount of time as a suction abortion,
as far as the doctor was concerned.  That means he could have
performed 6 or 7 abortions instead of seeing my wife during
her pregnancy.  Furthermore, he could have performed several
abortions -- say 4 or 5 -- instead of attending the labor and
delivery.  So at a minimum, assuming your $250 figure is
accurate, he could have made $2500 performing abortions
instead of the $600 to $700 he made.  Therefore, for the
individual physician, performing abortions is about *four times*
more lucrative than caring for a pregnant woman through a
full term pregnancy.

But is the market large enough to supply the volume required?
At 1.6 million abortions per year in this country -- about 1
abortion for every 2 live births -- the market is there, for
those who want it.

> Experimentation on live aborted fetuses is wrong and should be
> stopped.  But that does not imply that abortion should be stopped
> also.

I am glad you agree that the experimentation on live aborted
fetuses should be stopped.  But it seems inconsistent; if the
fetus truly has no rights, is not a person, and so forth, why
do you oppose such experimentation?

> Ken Montgomery  "Shredder-of-hapless-smurfs"

Gary Samuelson
ittvax!bunker!garys