A Tennessee abortionist says her Christian faith led her to believe that women should have easy access to abortions without judgment or shame.
In a column for Refinery 29, Sarah Wallett explained why she is both abortionist and a Christian. She said her Christian upbringing and her family’s dedication to caring for people in need were what “inspired” her to pursue her line of work.
Women “require and deserve” abortions, Wallett claimed. She described her abortion work as an “integral” part of women’s health care, and said women should not be judged for having them. Wallet said her patients often try to justify their abortions to her or tell her that they feel troubled by their decision. She blamed those feelings on stigma and judgment from society, and said women should not feel like they have to justify their abortions to anyone. She never mentions how that anguish could have anything to do with the fact that an abortion destroys an innocent unborn baby’s life.
She wrote:
I was also raised in a Christian home in Lexington, SC. My family went to church regularly, said prayers before meals, and I was taught from childhood that it was my duty to help people in need and leave the world a better place than I found it. The patients I see every day are so clearly people in need — and the medical care I provide them is both life-changing and, in many circumstances, life-saving.
The compassion and empathy I learned from my Christian faith are fundamental to my work. Too often, women who choose to have an abortion face significant stigma and shame — I see it every day. Patients have to walk by protestors screaming “murderer” and much worse just to get inside my clinic. One patient, a mother of four, couldn’t stop telling me why she was getting an abortion, clearly feeling as though she needed to explain herself to me after walking by the protestors. She kept telling me that she already had a large family, she was struggling with money, her pregnancies were high-risk, and her partner agreed with her — anything she could think of to make sure I understood her life and situation. Even to her abortion provider, she felt obligated to justify her decision, a task no one should ever have to do.
As a doctor, Wallett said she also has faced judgment for doing abortions, both from Christians and colleagues in the medical field.
“… I have even felt estranged from my colleagues in medicine because of their fear of association with a procedure that is ‘unpleasant’ for many to think about or discuss,” she said.
She concluded: “I chose to be a provider, whereas no one chooses to have to face the decision to have an abortion. Many of my patients also have strong faith, and I hope that they can find the same comfort, acceptance, and understanding in their own lives as I have. For my part, I will continue to do what I can to make sure that they do.”
To Wallett, an abortion is a right that every woman should have easy access to. She believes abortion is a compassionate option for women facing an unplanned or unwanted pregnancy, and no one should try to take away that option or judge a woman for it. Source
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