That inimitable, self-taught, birth “professional” Henci Goer is afraid of me and has been afraid of me for years.
Why is she afraid? Because, unlike many NCB and homebirth advocates, who have no idea that they have no idea what they are talking about, Henci Goer knows that I can, have and will continue to eviscerate her claims. It’s old news (2007) that Goer refuses to debate me:
What led up to Henci Goer’s refusal to debate?
Poor Henci Goer, still afraid
And it’s old news (2008) that she refuses to let me comment on her website:
Pathetic
Henci Goer’s theory of information access
And, of course, like EVERY other celebrity NCB advocate approached by Academic OB-GYN Dr. Nicholas Fogelson, she refused to participate in a debate with me, proposed and moderated by Dr. Fogelson (August 2010).
Evidently last night at the ongoing ICAN (International Cesarean Awareness Network) 2011 conference, someone asked Goer why she refuses to debate me. And being the “professional” that she is, she responded with a super-duper professional excuse. Don’t take my word for it though. Look at the Twitter feed:
The answer seems to delight Goer’s accolytes, but I doubt that it satisfies anyone else. To anyone who isn’t an NCB partisan, Goer’s fear of debate must seem inexplicable. Goer expresses her views with confidence and appears to have a mastery of the scientific evidence. If she is sure that she is right, wouldn’t she welcome an opportunity to debate me, especially a debate hosted and moderated by Dr. Fogelson, a professional she appears to respect?
Last summer, when Dr. Fogelson approached me about a debate, I responded promptly in the affirmative, but warned him that no one from the NCB side would dare agree. They are well aware that their claims would be eviscerated in short order, and I suspect that no one is more aware of this than Henci Goer. She knows that I can quickly and easily expose every lie, mistruth and half truth that comes from her mouth or her pen and she won’t, indeed she can’t, risk it.
Henci Goer’s fear of debate does not surprise me. The only thing that I wonder about is how long her accolytes will be delighted and diverted by insults. Sooner or later, someone is bound to ask her why she is obviously so afraid. What will she say then?
