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Pa. doctor: I perform abortions because I love my patients
York Daily Record ^ | 27 July A.D. 2017 | Joel Shannon

Posted on 07/27/2017 7:13:34 AM PDT by lightman

Colleen Krajewski performs abortions.

She's not hiding it -- in fact, she wants you to know.

The Pittsburgh physician even has a tattoo of a clothes hanger, a symbol of the danger of illegal abortions, on her forearm for all to see.

In July, The Washington Post published a column she wrote about her work and its impact on her personal and dating life. It was widely shared, and Krajewski said she has received messages from around the world in response.

The column is unusual. She says many doctors who perform abortions aren't up front about what they do. Some even hide that part of their work from family and friends.

Another compelling story: He died 3 years ago; his family only found out last week

Maybe that's why despite abortions taking up only 10 to 20 percent of her professional time, many people define her by it.

Once people know, many aren't interested in her dog's Instagram or her furniture refinishing projects any more. Once it's out at a party, women often approach her, whispering the story of their abortion. She's been called "the abortion lady."

She's well aware that some people are morally opposed to what she does. Research says 44 percent of Americans think abortion is morally wrong, according to the Pew Research Center.

Many are vocal about their beliefs, including one commenter on her column, known only as "sensible," who wrote: "It chills my blood to see women like this boasting and celebrating what is ... killing of little babies."

She wishes people who oppose abortions could meet her patients.

​"I don't do this because I'm morally corrupt or because I don't care. I love my patients. I do this at a fairly great personal sacrifice ... I don't do this for fun. ... I do it because it's right. I do it because I can't look at my patent's eye and tell them 'no,'" she said.

She says an abortion is a necessary procedure for her patients -- unplanned pregnancies can be ​"economically devastating." For many women who seek an abortion, "they have other people in their life that they need to take care of."

She knows her patients often struggle with stigma and even shame. Many believe abortions are morally wrong but feel their situation is an exception.

She wants to end that stigma.

"Abortion is not an immoral choice," she said. She knows her patients -- who she called "awesome" and "incredible"; they are perfectly capable of making judgments about what is best for them.

During the counseling process, which occurs by law 24 hours in advance of an abortion, Krajewski informs patients of the risks, benefits, alternatives -- including adoption.

In some cases, it becomes clear through conversations that a woman has been coerced into the decision. Krajewski says she won't do those procedures and steers those patients toward appropriate resources.

But most women already have weighed their options and made an informed decision, she said.

She says research and experience tell her that women who have an abortion don't feel shame -- they feel relief. While she says her patients don't make the decision flippantly, they typically don't find it to be a heart-wrenching choice.

She says that safe, legal abortions like the ones she provides save women's lives. "They're going to happen whether I do them or not." And she's proud that her procedures are fast, safe and have a low complication rate. She also says that medically it's hard to find a safer procedure.

She says that she never intended to become an advocate -- or even a doctor who performs abortions. But after being shocked to learn the number of women who seek abortions, she felt compelled to become a family planning specialist. That specialty focuses on birth control and abortion.

In Pennsylvania, 226 abortions are performed for every 1,000 births, according to 2015 data from the Pennsylvania Department of Health. In 2015, there were 31,818 abortions in the state.

The number of abortions in Pennsylvania is going down, although Krajewski and Matthew Wagner, education director with the Pennsylvania Pro-Life Federation, don't agree on why.

She says increased access to contraceptives has helped lower the number of abortions needed.

He says that public perception has shifted toward recognizing "the humanity of the child" in the womb.

"The reality is, any one abortion is a tragedy ... our goal is to get that number to zero," he said.

They don't agree on much when it comes to the topic of abortion.

But one piece of common ground: Both say that many women who seek abortions do so because they lack proper support.

Often her patients feel backed into a corner, Krajewski says. No one enjoys having an abortion, but people from all walks of life -- including different races and religions -- come seeking her services.

She has no patience for those who disagree with her patients' decisions. It's not their life; it's not their business, she says.

And because she commonly performs abortions on women who are quick to say they believe the procedure is wrong, she suspects many critics would feel differently if they were in her patients' shoes.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; News/Current Events; US: Pennsylvania
KEYWORDS: abortion; moralabsolutes; pennsylvania; pittsburgh
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Dr. Colleen Krajewski

"The abortion 'lady'"

1 posted on 07/27/2017 7:13:35 AM PDT by lightman
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To: wagglebee; little jeremiah; xzins; Tribune7; Salvation; NYer; NRx

Ping


2 posted on 07/27/2017 7:15:47 AM PDT by lightman (Trump = A glorious amalgamation of Andrew Jackson, Teddy Roosevelt, and Ronald Reagan!)
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To: lightman

I bet the high priests of the Aztecs said the same thing when they threw children off the buildings for sacrifices.

“We do this because we love our people and want them to be happy!”

I guess they stopped making people read “The Lottery” in school...


3 posted on 07/27/2017 7:16:36 AM PDT by Skywise
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To: lightman

I wonder if her Polish Catholic family are thrilled by their little girl’s achievements.


4 posted on 07/27/2017 7:17:10 AM PDT by madprof98
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To: lightman

When she stands before the Great White Throne, what her answer be then?


5 posted on 07/27/2017 7:19:02 AM PDT by sport
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To: madprof98

Obviously doesn’t consider that the Baby is her patient too. So much for the Hippocratic oath.


6 posted on 07/27/2017 7:19:07 AM PDT by JMS
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To: lightman
"In Pennsylvania, 226 abortions are performed for every 1,000 births, according to 2015 data from the Pennsylvania Department of Health. In 2015, there were 31,818 abortions in the state."

"The number of abortions in Pennsylvania is going down, although Krajewski and Matthew Wagner, education director with the Pennsylvania Pro-Life Federation, don't agree on why."

Meet the most effective abortionist in the world.

7 posted on 07/27/2017 7:19:40 AM PDT by Timpanagos1
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Mengele thought the same thing....the betterment of society.....


8 posted on 07/27/2017 7:21:11 AM PDT by TnTnTn
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To: lightman

Abortionists wouldn’t be in business if mothers didn’t want to kill their babies.


9 posted on 07/27/2017 7:22:03 AM PDT by ilovesarah2012
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To: lightman

The only “love” she knows is the sense of freedom from consequences.

A false sense to be sure.


10 posted on 07/27/2017 7:23:19 AM PDT by G Larry (There is no great virtue in bargaining with the Devil)
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To: Ad Orientam; antonius; aposiopetic; arielguard; bad company; blinachka; bob808; Brad's Gramma; ...
What a contrast to the Holy Martyr Panteliemon, commemorated this day:

Panteleimon the Great Martyr & Healer

This Saint, who had Nicomedia as his homeland, was the son of Eustorgius and Eubula. His father was an idolater, but his mother was a Christian from her ancestors. It was through her that he was instructed in piety, and still later, he was catechized in the Faith of Christ by Saint Hermolaus (see July 26) and baptized by him. Being proficient in the physician's vocation, he practiced it in a philanthropic manner, healing every illness more by the grace of Christ than by medicines. Thus, although his parents had named him Pantoleon ("in all things a lion"), because of the compassion he showed for the souls and bodies of all, he was worthily renamed Panteleimon, meaning "all-merciful." On one occasion, when he restored the sight of a certain blind man by calling on the Divine Name, he enlightened also the eyes of this man's soul to the knowledge of the truth. This also became the cause for the martyrdom of him who had been blind, since when he was asked by whom and in what manner his eyes had been opened, in imitation of that blind man of the Gospel he confessed with boldness both who the physician was and the manner of his healing. For this he was put to death immediately. Panteleimon was arrested also, and having endured many wounds, he was finally beheaded in the year 305, during the reign of Maximian. Saint Panteleimon is one of the Holy Unmercenaries, and is held in special honor among them, even as Saint George is among the Martyrs

Apolytikion of Great Martyr Panteleimon
Third Tone

Panteleimon, saintly champion and healer, intercede with our merciful God to grant our souls remission of sins.

Kontakion of Great Martyr Panteleimon

Plagal of the First Tone

O Champion and Martyr of God, imitating the Merciful and bearing from Him the grace of healing, cure our spiritual ills by your prayers, and set free from the temptation of the eternal enemy those who ceaselessly cry out, "Save us, O Lord."

11 posted on 07/27/2017 7:24:01 AM PDT by lightman (Trump = A glorious amalgamation of Andrew Jackson, Teddy Roosevelt, and Ronald Reagan!)
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To: lightman

Eye opener for those who live in a bubble.. girls in college are being physically and mentally forced to take the abortion pill. That is not a choice and that is not love. Hiding physical, mental and sexual abuse of girls, of women is not love either, its criminal.


12 posted on 07/27/2017 7:24:46 AM PDT by momincombatboots (White Stetsons up.. let's save our country!)
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To: lightman

Never ceases to amaze me that some women are PROUD to kill the unborn. They ignore the countless stories from women who, after having had an abortion, feel remorse. Some decide they shouldn’t have children at all, considering they killed their nascent first born. The number of women with regrets is NEVER discussed. And I suspect it is a lifelong regret, with repercussions that only those women who have had abortions, know.


13 posted on 07/27/2017 7:25:17 AM PDT by originalbuckeye ("In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act." - George Orwell service T)
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To: madprof98
I wonder if her Polish Catholic family are thrilled by their little girl’s achievements.

I wonder if her Catholic Bishop has the cajones to place her under excommunication.

14 posted on 07/27/2017 7:25:55 AM PDT by lightman (Trump = A glorious amalgamation of Andrew Jackson, Teddy Roosevelt, and Ronald Reagan!)
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To: lightman

Her face and her soul are the picture of the contemporary viciousness of the smiling barbarian.


15 posted on 07/27/2017 7:26:47 AM PDT by Neoliberalnot (Marxism works well only with the uneducated and the unar)
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To: lightman

The babies are also her patients.


16 posted on 07/27/2017 7:27:33 AM PDT by bgill (CDC site, "We don't know how people are infected with Ebola.")
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To: lightman

Bishop . . . cajones? I note an oxymoron here.


17 posted on 07/27/2017 7:27:52 AM PDT by madprof98
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To: lightman
She's latae sententiae excommunicated without any action needed by her bishop.
18 posted on 07/27/2017 7:28:42 AM PDT by Campion (Halten Sie sich unbedingt an die Lehre!)
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There is a point where social illness, mental illness and spiritual illness have no border walls. “Lost” becomes forever.


19 posted on 07/27/2017 7:28:58 AM PDT by USCG SimTech
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To: lightman

“She says an abortion is a necessary procedure for her patients — unplanned pregnancies can be “economically devastating.” For many women who seek an abortion, “they have other people in their life that they need to take care of.””

So much wrong with these few sentences:

a) It’s not “necessary”. A blood transfusion for someone who is dying of blood loss is “necessary”. A tracheotomy for someone whose windpipe has collapsed is “necessary”. Amputation for someone whose limb is gangrenous is “necessary”. Elective abortions are elective, not “necessary”. If they were “necessary”, abortion lovers would not call their stance “pro-choice”, since necessity precludes choice.

b) Caring for a disabled or elderly family member might be “economically devastating” as well, but we do not accept that as just cause to murder them.

c) If they have other people in their life they need to take care of, perhaps they should have thought of that before they were sexually irresponsible and got themselves pregnant. Besides, if they cannot care for the child, they can always give it up for adoption instead of murdering it.


20 posted on 07/27/2017 7:29:10 AM PDT by Boogieman
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