Joel Christie
Daily Mail
Sept 28, 2013
One of only four American doctors who perform third-trimester abortions has added to the increasing controversy of her procedures by speaking out to defend the practice and revealing she encourages mothers to ‘hold’ their babies after the operation and create a ‘memory box’ of photos and footprints.
Late-term abortionist Dr Susan Robinson – who is at the forefront of new documentary After Tiller, about the small group of professionals who fight to keep late abortion available – has defended her practices, saying that ‘honoring’ the baby can be a necessary part for the parents accepting their decision.
‘With a fetal indications patient—if she refers to it as her baby, I’ll refer to it as her baby. If she’s named the baby, I’ll use the baby’s name too,’ Dr Robinson said in an interview with The Hairpin.
‘I would say that most of these patients do decide to see and hold their baby, although many of them have a hard time dealing with the idea at first.
‘We’ll take remembrance photographs, we’ll give them a teddy bear, the footprints. I mean, imagine being six months pregnant and finding out your baby’s missing half its brain, and you’ve got this nursery you’ve painted at home, you’re so ready – I don’t want them to go home from the procedure with absolutely nothing to remember and honor the baby, and its birth.’
Dr Robinson and the three other doctors who perform late-term abortions – which take place after the 20th week of gestation – face incredible danger and scrutiny for the work they do, especially following the assassination of their colleague Dr George Tiller, who was shot by an anti-abortion activist as he attended church in May 2009.