Liz Szabo Quotes
Zika could become the newest flashpoint in America’s debate on abortion. With nearly 1,000 pregnant women in the U.S. infected with Zika and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advising all expectant mothers to be screened for exposure to the virus, the USA is beginning to get a hint about why the issue became so contentious in Latin America this year.
Liz Szabo, “Zika outbreak could reignite abortion debate”, USA Today, August 8, 2016
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The Zika, virus, when contracted by a pregnant woman, has a high likelihood of deforming the fetus so that if the fetus is carried to term, the baby will have a very small head with a raft of mental and physical impairments that go with that condition. The consequence of the 2016 Zika outbreak was many more women wishing to have abortions and a great dilemma for man abortion opponents.
If a state or community legally decides that a fetus is a person, there are many situations where there is a conflict of interest between the mother to be and the fetus. A pregnant woman, having a single drink of alcohol, potentially dangers the fetus (called Fetal Alcohol Syndrome). Smoking is clearly hazardous to the health of the fetus (underweight babies and more infant mortality and even more SIDS deaths. A diet to keep a mother thinner may not be nutritious for the fetus, A few states and local government have started prosecuting pregnant women for their personal behavior that might be detrimental to the fetus—often the purpose is to assert the right of the state to regulate the behavior of the pregnant woman so that the state can control abortion.
Microcephaly is a condition where newborn children have very small heads, the the brain cannot develop sufficiently to normally function. Almost all Americans had heard about microcephaly and the Zika virus that caused the condition in pregnant women, but it has been in South America, Latin America and Puerto Rico. When people have friends, coworkers and family who have a serious medical condition, they believe it is a serious problem that needs society’s attention. At the time Fauci made this statement Americans on the mainland had not yet seen any cases, Zika was unfortunately not taken seriously enough.
At the time of the debate, the average pregnant woman’s risk of death was much higher from delivery than for an early abortion.
The drugs she referred to are "abortion pills" such as RU-486, used widely in France but restricted for import into the U. S.
Kaiser Health News hired USA Today veteran Liz Szabo, effective September 5. Szabo has worked as a medical reporter for the paper since 2004, and previously reported for The Virginian-Pilot in Norfolk, Virginia. She is the recipient of several industry honors, including awards from the National Press Club and the Association of Health Care Journalists. Follow Kaiser Health News on Twitter.
