It seems to me they are taking the easy way out. These doctors, like so many others, seem more willing to accept abortion in pill form because it is less controversial and requires less positive consent than surgical abortion. The doctor neither physically performs an abortion nor is labeled an abortionist--he or she is afforded a sort of distance from the event that allows them not to have to think as deeply about the consequences of their actions.
This kind of attitude will hardly advance the pro-choice cause by removing the stigma of shame from having an abortion; it will merely hide the same old prejudices behind closed doors. If pro-choice advocates really want to make a difference in the national attitude about abortion, they will need to do much more than extol the virtues of a "wonder" drug. They will have to continue to present their arguments as to why having or performing an abortion is a morally acceptable decision to make.
Alixandra E. Smith '02 is a government concentrator in Kirkland House. Her column appears on alternate Thursdays.