New Kansas law July 1
Attitudes toward abortion changing
Special to the Kansan
Special to the Kannan Viewpoints on the subject of abortion are changing with the accumulation of knowledge relevant to the topic, according to Raymond Schwegler, director of Watkins Hospital.
Schweger said yesterday that he had "no misgivings" about recommending a therapeutic abortion (TAB) to a woman who had contracted German measles during the first three months of pregnancy.
His opinion seems to reflect a nationwide change in attitudes toward circumstances which justified granting a woman the right to have a pregnancy artificially terminated.
One remembers the thalidomide scandal of 1961-62 when thousands of deformed and mentally defective babies were born to European and American mothers who had been taking thalidomide compounds as sedatives during the early months of pregnancy. In France one heart-stricken mother killed her thalidomide baby with barbiturates as an act of mercy. The child was mentally defective and deformed. The mother was acquitted of her crime.
There was also the case of Mrs. Sherry Finkbine of Arizona who was told by her doctor that she
had been taking a tranquilizing compound containing thalidomide.
Mar. 6
1970
8 KANSAN
Beginning July 1, no woman in Kansas carrying a defective fetus will be subjected to the ordeal Mrs. Finkbine experienced.
Her story was reported in newspapers and magazines throughout the country. Instead of giving birth to a baby who would probably be irreparably deformed, Mrs. Finkbine decided to have her pregnancy terminated by a TAB.
Mrs. Finkbine's search for a doctor who would perform the abortion, which would probably have cost him his reputation and a prison sentence, was viewed with both sympathy and condemnation.
In 1962, TABs could only be performed legally when several physicians had verified that the completion of pregnancy and birth would endanger the life of the mother. Nothing was said about terminating pregnancy when there was substantial reason to believe the fetus was seriously damaged.
So Sherry Finkbine had her abortion legally, in a Swedish hospital. The doctor who performed the abortion said the
fetus was already showing signs of being seriously deformed. Mrs.Finkbine, who had several children at the time of her abortion, bore another child the year after her operation.
The Kansas abortion law will allow any woman who is a resident of Kansas to have a legal TAB with the verification of three physicians that to continue pregnancy would cause her physical or mental harm, or would allow a TAB in the case of a defective fetus. The law has come under much criticism, and was the subject of passionate debate in the Kansas Legislature. The law is a product of much compromise, and it remains to be seen whether Kansas will become
the "abortion mill" some opponents predict.
Dr. Schwegel said any woman who goes to Watkins Hospital seeking consultation for an abortion is first examined to determine whether there is medical basis for the need of a TAB. He said this procedure would be the same for any disease or disorder.
Schweegler said if the girl wants an abortion she is usually referred to her family physician for further consultation and treatment. Or she is referred to the Kansas University Medical Center.
Although no TABs are performed through Watkins, they can be performed at the medical center with the verification of
three physicians. Schwegler said the physicians at Watkins do not influence other physicians in abortion cases, but simply refer the patient to another qualified physician.
Despite the liberalization of abortion laws in several states (Colorado, Hawaii), there is still a social stigma connected with undergoing a TAB. For this reason, Schwegler, said, no records are kept at Watkins of women who have been referred through the Student Health Service for a TAB.
"It is a highly personal matter," he said. "And we don't feel it is proper for it to appear on a record when we don't know what hands it might fall into."
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