The following letter I recently received provides a stark comparison between women's "health care" in abortion facilities and the care we have for animals. May 5, 1999

Dear Father Pavone,

Some time ago there was an article in the newspaper about a judge, in New Orleans, La. who ruled against putting a ban on partial-birth abortion. The bill to over turn the ban was presented not only for the life of the baby, but because of the risks to the mother. I often wondered if doctors performed abortions on animals too. I called several local veterinarian clinics, under the pretense of giving my cat six or nine weeks pregnant an abortion. Each person I talked to acted stunned at my request and put me on hold, so that I could consult personally with the doctor. I talked to several doctors each at a different clinic.

The first one told me they did not do abortions on cats. They spayed them. I said, "I don't want to have my cat spayed, because I might want her to get pregnant later on." "At this particular time, it is not convenient for us to deal with her having kittens now." The doctor tried to talk me out of my decision by telling me the risks involved. He said, "the fetuses should remain quiet and not be disturbed within 72 hours after the mating period." He said, "after an abortion an infection called Pyometria (pus in the uterus) could occur, all the parts of the fetuses may not be removed and severe bleeding could occur causing the animal to die." He said, "a cat who is six or nine weeks pregnant is equivalent to a human baby that is eight or nine months in the womb." "You just don't remove a baby that far along in the pregnancy."

The second doctor begged me to let my cat have the kittens. He said, "an abortion is an unsafe procedure with a lot of risks because, the uterus is not ready to receive an abortion." "There is a hormone change that must take place to help the uterus contract." He said, "there are risks to human mothers too." I said, "We are not told that." He said, "Yes I know that." He went on to explain that the risks to my cat, are severe bleeding and the animal could die." The other doctors I spoke with discouraged me by telling me about the risks too. One doctor who was willing to terminate the pregnancy said, "You must bring the cat in now, before the kittens are too far along because of the risks to the mother cat."

I hope you can use this information to share with your audience.

Pro-life in Louisiana