In her latest article for Fusion, abortion provider Dr. Jennifer Conti celebrates the ‘badass’ ways of her friend and colleague, Dr. Diane Horvath-Cosper, who refuses to be discreet about the life-sucking services she provides.
Horvath-Cosper recently made headlines for filing a civil rights complaint against her employer, MedStar Washington Center Hospital, because the facility allegedly wants her to stop engaging the media to tout her pro-abortion views.
The hospital is on record telling Horvath-Cosper that her “high-profile approach” is incompatible with the discreet nature of the services the hospital provides. But Horvath-Cosper doesn’t care and as the title of Fusion’s article indicates, she says, ‘F-you to the system’.
Horvath-Cosper is angry she is not
“There is a real vulnerability that comes with this line of work. You have to be brave enough to endure people calling you bad names and intrepid enough to keep fighting for the millions of women who need but cannot properly access reproductive health services,” says Fusion’s Conti in Horvath-Cosper’s defense.
Conti goes on to talk about the hardships her friend and colleague is facing and the struggles they endure together. “This is why Diane is putting herself out there—because she is strong enough to do this work and do it well.” Remember, when the author says ‘do it well’, let’s not forget the fact that what she’s doing well is surgically putting an end to human life in the womb. Just wanted to point that out.
There’s also the recent #ShoutYourAbortion social media campaign in which women who have just undergone an abortion are urged to publicize and celebrate their life-denying choice. It’s one of the most despicable things I’ve ever seen in relation to abortion advocacy (which is saying a lot) and Horvath-Cosper is clearly seeking to ride that same wave.
Fusion, known for relentlessly pushing extreme left-wing views, has never shied away from showing off just how much they love abortion. Even going as far as posting an article claiming abortion to be a “joyful experience.”
The author of this latest article, as might be expected, also has her own history of relentless pro-abortion advocacy. Conti has been featured on slate.com numerous times and literally almost only tweets about abortion. She even mentions how her own father has deleted her from his Facebook page because she was getting so annoying about how much she loves abortion.
Below are relevant portions of the transcript from the May 10, 2016 article “Meet the abortion doctor who just said F-you to the system.”
Many women’s health advocates wear their passion on their sleeve. Diane Horvath-Cosper wears hers on her ankle, in the form of a coat hanger tattoo—a reminder to herself and others, she says, that our country is rapidly returning to the dark ages of abortion and the horrors this reality entails.
As a fellow OBGYN and a friend of Horvath-Cosper’s, I was proud but not at all surprised when she announced, in a mic-drop moment last week, that she was taking legal action against her hospital for forbidding her to speak publicly about her work and beliefs as an abortion provider.
As The New York Times first reported, Horvath-Cosper is filing a civil rights complaint against MedStar Washington Center Hospital in Washington, D.C. for what she describes as a “gag order” that has essentially put the kibosh on her work as an abortion rights advocate. “I don’t think the way to deal with bullies is to cower and pull back,” she told the paper.
Not surprisingly, news of Horvath-Cosper’s decision temporarily broke the internet—or at least that sliver of the internet reserved for abortion news, making her an overnight feminist heroine.
It also confirmed what I have long known of my friend: Diane Horvath-Cosper is a badass.
Never have I met a more brilliant, beautiful, and inspiring human being. And while the “gag order” still prevents her from speaking out, I feel compelled to speak out in support of her—because the precedent she is setting for fellow abortion providers like myself is nothing short of tremendous.
I first learned about the hospital’s “gag order” last fall, when Diane sent me a frantic series of texts, brimming with outrage and comically timed F-bombs. “You’re never going to believe this bullshit!” she texted me. “The hospital is telling me I can no longer interact with the media. They said they didn’t want to advertise that they did abortions here and that my media presence was like a big Kmart blue light special.”
The Center for Medical Progress was still falsely alleging that abortion clinics sell baby parts for cash; and Republican presidential candidates were competing to see who could spew out the most extreme anti-choice propaganda. Now was the exact moment we needed Diane’s voice.
Diane often refers to fellow abortion providers as her “family planning family,” a testament to the support we offer each other. Indeed, when my own father recently unfriended me on Facebook for being “too vocal” about my views. Sometimes a lack of support from those closest to us can feel more hurtful than a protester’s nasty comments or even a legislator’s efforts to restrict abortion access.
In reporting this story, Fusion reached out to MedStar for comment. The hospital responded with a written statement, saying, “Like many hospitals across the nation, we offer [family planning] services discreetly to ensure that our patients can have a professional, respectful, confidential, and safe environment in which to receive care.” The hospital went on to note that it had asked Diane to “step back from her high-profile approach” because it believed it put patients and staff at risk.
There is a real vulnerability that comes with this line of work. You have to be brave enough to endure people calling you bad names and intrepid enough to keep fighting for the millions of women who need but cannot properly access reproductive health services. Some of us do it publicly through advocacy; others of us work behind the scenes, providing care in the reddest parts of this country, where abortion is becoming all but extinct. This is why Diane is putting herself out there—because she is strong enough to do this work and do it well.
