Dropping startling facts taken from Gallup polls, Kissling states that Americans are drastically changing their opinions from pro-choice to pro-life and this change is starting to show up in the decisions our government is making. She mentions the bill that was passed Friday, February 18, 2011 that will remove federal funding from Planned Parenthood. This extremely beneficial clinic provides reproductive health services to poor women. They serve over 5 million clients a year, 26% of which are teenagers under the age of 19. The house is even proposing a bill that would make it impossible to buy private insurance covering abortion.
The main message Kissling is sending goes out to the pro-choice advocates who are still using the same tactics and facts that were used in abortion debates in the 1970s. She's telling the abortion-rights movement "to accept its (the fetus) existence and its value." She believes we need to reject post-viability abortions (24 to 26 weeks) except in extreme cases such as the woman's life is in immediate risk or when the fetus suffers from conditions that are incompatible with a good quality of life. She also proposes mandating and funding non-directive counseling on all options available to pregnant women.
Kissling warns that "the new ultra-conservative members of Congress are fighting to get rid of the legal rights to choose abortion." She strongly believes that the movement needs to start working with the state. She wants to see more responsible and compassionate state policies, even naming the European's system as a positive example for the U.S. to model.
She closes with a powerful statement: "If we don't suggest sensible balanced legislature and regulation of abortion, we will be left with far more draconian policies- and, eventually, no choices at all."
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