'Molly's' abortion blog debated

This blog will only create a 'back-alley' culture of abortion ...

The news that a feminist blogger has posted explicit directions online for a surgical abortion is disturbing on so many levels. The 21-year old said she had set up the site in reaction to the new South Dakota law (Gov. Mike Rounds is pictured signing the legislation) which all but bans the procedure. Using the pseudonym "Molly Blythe" she admitted that she has had no medical background but has been compiling instructions for several years (at 21?). Whatever your opinion on abortion or indeed freedom of speech this blog represents the ultimate in irresponsible blogging. Even if she were medically trained it would be ludicrous to attempt to instruct women how to perform potentially dangerous surgery. While "Molly" claims that it provides a solution to a "worst-case scenario" where a women has a job that doesn’t "let her leave the state" (surely Americans aren’t so suppressed that they need permission to leave a state now?) it could lead to women opting for self-surgery in order to save money. As long as there are still states that provide abortions legally this website merely has the potential to create a "back-alley" abortion culture.

It was South Dakota that created the underground abortion culture ...

This website acts an important piece of publicity in bringing worldwide attention to the plight of women in South Dakota. Abortion should always be the choice of the individual and, while people are entitled to try and sway people towards the pro-life stance, they do not have the right to take away from women the choice of opting for an abortion. While people may say "Molly" is potentially creating a "back-alley" culture of abortion it is the state that has done that by rewinding the clock to the dark days when women had no choice. While, even Laura Kaplan, who wrote the 1996 book The Story of Jane: The Legendary Underground Feminist Abortion Service, states that you cannot "learn to do abortions in a correspondence course" this blog has highlighted the illogical decision by South Dakota that can only serve to re-create a dangerous, underground culture of abortions.