ARTICLES

Have Uterine Aspirator, Will Travel

FORMER PRESIDENT OF SD MEDICAL SOCIETY BOASTS 20,000 ABORTIONS

By Tom Barbarie

''PHYSICIAN AVAILABLE: Board certified and recertified OB/GYN is looking for locum tenens work. I perform abortions up to 14 weeks and have done more than 20,000 cases. I am willing to provide locum tenens in your office while you're away (one to eight weeks), including abortion under paracervical block and sedation, as well as the entire spectrum of OB/GYN care. I can be reached (in California) by e-mail at tab4you@ aol.com or by telephone at 619-223-3177. My name is Doctor David Priver."

That notice, carried in the June 24 newsletter of the National Coalition of Abortion Providers, a Washington, D.C. lobbyist group, does not mention the fact that Priver was the president of the San Diego County Medical Society in 1997 and is currently one of the 21 members of the society's elected, policy-making council.

In its statement of purposes, the society says it exists in union with the California Medical Association "to promote the science and art of medicine, the quality care and well-being of patients, the protection of the public health, the betterment of the medical profession and the adjudication of ethical relations of its members."

In the June 1997 edition of the society's publication, San Diego Physician, Priver outlined his stance on abortion in a column titled "Abortion: It's Time for a Compromise."

Prior to the 1973 U. S. Supreme Court decisions striking down legal protection for fetal life, wrote Priver, "Hardly a night on call would go by without a visit to the ER to care for a young woman suffering a hemorrhage and/or severe uterine infection resulting from a kitchen table, coat hanger, lye or catheter-induced effort to empty a pregnant uterus...."

"The dramatic improvement in maternal health [after abortion was legalized] was so stunning and complete that I can actually recall a junior resident lamenting the fact that there were no more 'interesting' septic shock cases to look after anymore!" Priver wrote. But the "uneasiness" he sensed about abortions after 20 weeks gestation when no medical indications exist led him to say: "I believe the time has come to question whether this practice should be permitted to continue."

Priver called on the American Medical Association and the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology to openly discuss "the appropriateness, or lack thereof, of abortion later than 20 weeks." (In a July 2 phone conversation, a staffer in Priver's office quoted abortion prices up to 18 weeks.)

"At the same time, I call upon leaders of groups opposed to abortion rights to view this as a good faith effort at achieving a compromise on this most intractably divisive of issues," he continued, adding that although "pro-choice colleagues will, undoubtedly, scoff at the naivete of my believing that the anti-abortion movement is capable of any sort of compromise," it should be the "pro-choice community which seizes the high moral ground and goes on record as having taken the first step in the direction of reconciliation of attitudes."

Is it is possible for someone like Priver, who advertises that he has performed 20,000 abortions, to take the "moral high ground"? And -- especially in light of the society's statement of purposes quoted earlier -- does the stigma associated with abortion attach to the abortion provider of today, particularly one who provides on a grand scale? News Notes attempted to contact members of the San Diego County Medical Society council, including the current president, Dr. John Greisman, to ask these questions.

The approach of a holiday weekend might have accounted in part for the difficulty in reaching these physicians. But one council member, Dr. James G. Knight, who did respond pointed out simply that abortion is "a legal procedure." Knight, whose office is at the same Sports Arena­area address as Priver's, said, "If you don't approve of abortion, I guess there's a stigma; if you don't mind abortion, then there is no stigma."

Another council member, Dr. Edgar Canada of San Diego, said he was surprised at the number of abortions Priver adverted to in his notice of availability. "That seems like a high number of procedures," he said. "I'm an anesthesiologist, and in terms of numbers of cases, I probably do 1000 procedures a year."

Colette Wilson, an Inglewood attorney who quit her law career nine years ago to devote her time to the pro-life cause, especially sidewalk counseling, said 20,000 career abortions isn't necessarily a high number for doctors who do nothing but perform abortions. "But compared to any OB/GYN [with a practice, such as Priver]," she said, "it's a high number."

For further purposes of comparison, News Notes asked obstetrician-gynecologist Dr. Arthur Stehly of Escondido how many babies he has delivered in 27 years of practice. Stehly, a Catholic who does not perform abortions nor prescribe contraceptives, estimated that number at between 10,000 and 12,000.

Dr. Jerome Sinsky, also of Escondido, has delivered 4000 to 5000 babies in his 15 years of practice as an obstetrician-gynecologist. He said there is no substantive difference between an 18-week-old fetus -- which, according to Priver's office, Priver would abort -- and a 20-week-old fetus, which Priver seems to admit perhaps shouldn't be legal to abort.

State law "defines a stillborn as a baby after 20 weeks...before 20 weeks, it's called a 'fetus,'" Sinsky said. "After 20 weeks, the county wants a death certificate." But, he pointed out, "There's no great jump in viability or anything like that. So I don't know why he would want to worry about abortion at 20 weeks."

When contacted by phone and asked why he draws the line at a 20-week-old baby, Priver asked the caller to identify himself again. At the mention of News Notes he said, "Oh, is that that Catholic publication?" Informed that it was, Priver said, "I have nothing to say to you," and hung up.

But an office staffer quoted Priver's price structure to a caller: Fetuses of 6 to 11 weeks gestation can be aborted for $300, while those of 12 to 18 weeks can be done for $400. The lesser of the two figures, multiplied by 20,000, is $6 million.