Partial-birth abortion: dispelling the myths

BP News ^ | 11/703 | Pia de Solenni

[jwalsh07]

Good post, shedding light on a dark chapter in American history.

[Jack of all Trades]

It seems to me that there is a health exception in the law - deliver the baby.

[Roughneck]

"...Women who undergo partial birth abortion risk uterine rupture, abruption, amniotic fluid embolus, trauma to the uterus, iatrogenic laceration, secondary hemorrhage and infertility.."

Too bad it's only a risk. What the H-E-double L do these murderers think the child goes thru...?

[LiteKeeper]

INTREP - MURDER, Inc

[lainde]

bttt

[squidly]

Too bad that most of the liberal press isn't reporting it this way. All you hear from them is how "there is no exception for when the mother's health is in danger."

[jwalsh07]

Time to pull this thread out of the mothballs.

Gonna be a lot of balogna flying around.

[jwalsh07]

[truthandlife]

Agreed

[Coleus]

`

[Coleus]

PBA

Partial Birth Abortion

Partial-Birth Abortion

Partial-Birth Abortion Goes on Trial -- March 29, 2004

Click on the illustration above to see a series of medically accurate illustrations of a typical partial-birth abortion as performed at 24 weeks (5-1/2 months).

**  The Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act -- Misconceptions and Realities, by NRLC Legislative Director Douglas Johnson -- November 5, 2003

** A collection of key documents on medical issues relating to partial-birth abortion is HERE.

**  A collection of key documents on the pain experienced by unborn children is HERE.

** "Partial-Birth Abortion -- You Can Look it Up in the Medical Dictionary!" -- October 29, 2003

** For much more information on partial-birth abortion, click here.

These color illustrations of a partial-birth abortion were prepared on the basis of an instructional paper by an Ohio abortionist, explaining step by step how he performs the procedure.  These drawings accurately depict a partial-birth abortion being performed on a baby at 24 weeks gestational age.  Most partial-birth abortions are performed in the 20-26 week range (the fifth and sixth months), and some are performed even later.  Artwork by Tanja Butler, used courtesy of Heathers Place, 505-521-0105, pla@zianet.com.  Letters from medical authorities affirming the accuracy of these drawings are posted below.

 

For better viewing, click on images to enlarge:

 

 

 

 

Letter from Anthony P. Levatino, M.D., J.D., former abortionist, explaining that the images shown above "accurately depict" the partial-birth abortion method, and that "the images are size-appropriate to a fetus of approximately 24 weeks gestation."  --  March 4, 2003
(PDF document -- requires free Adobe Acrobat Reader)

Letter from Watson A. Bowes, Jr., M.D., co-editor-in-chief of the journal Obstetrical & Gynecological Survey, explaining that the images shown above "accurately depict" the partial-birth abortion method being used on "a fetus of approximately 24 weeks gestation." -- March 6, 2003
(PDF document -- requires free Adobe Acrobat Reader)

 

Black-and-White Drawing of Final Stage of a Partial-Birth Abortion

Click here to see a line drawing of the final stage of the partial-birth abortion procedure. Click here to see a letter from eminent medical authority Watson Bowes, M.D., affirming that this drawing accurately depicts the final stage of a partial-birth abortion on "a fetus of approximately 24-26 weeks gestation."  (PDF documents)

 

About "Dilation and Evacuation" (D&E) Dismemberment Abortions

At the same developmental stage at which most partial-birth abortions are performed -- in the fifth and sixth months -- many unborn children are killed with a different abortion method called "dilation and evacuation" ("D&E").  It also is very brutal and painful to the unborn child, as depicted in a series of illustrations produced by a professional medical art firm. 

[TheWriterInTexas]

There are only two instances that I know of where an abortion "may" be necessary to save the life of the mother:

1. Tubal pregnancy. Although advances are being made to try to save these babies, they usually are unable to survive past the second trimester because the tube ruptures.

2. Fetal rejection. When the mother's immune system overrides the baby's ability to fight off natural defenses, very similar to an organ transplant rejection. The mother's body sees the infant as an invading foreign body and attempts to destroy it, while other systems attempt to nourish it. Typically, the baby can defend against it. In extremely rare cases, it does not. I personally know only one woman this has happened to; it was terribly debilitating, and she agonized over her decision. Two days before she gave in to pressure to abort, God took the decision from her hands and swept the baby home to Him. She was in her fifth month and her health was failing.

She was urged never to attempt another pregnancy, and, given her emotional and physical suffering, she has chosen not to have children.

[cpforlife.org]

Partial-birth abortion: dispelling the myths

Important facts PING

[cpforlife.org]

Please let me know if you want on or off my Pro-Life Ping List.

[hocndoc]

I know most of y'all know all this, but I feel the need to preach:

Tubal pregnancies usually cause rupture in the 1st trimester, often before 8 or 9 weeks. They are a life threatening condition for the mother. And, of course, the D & E is not even an option. (The ethical problem is whether it's appropriate to kill the child outright or to cause his or her death by means of removing the "diseased" fallopian tube. We could debate for days on that one. I know I have.)

As someone said, the remedy for the mother's health endangerment in other cases is to deliver the child. But, as we all know, it's not necessary to kill the child to deliver him or her. Yes, the child may die as a result of early birth, but that's not a reason to intentionally kill him or her. And early delivery is not an abortion.

Any interference after 15 weeks is statistically more dangerous to the health of the mother, both in terms of risk of death and of damage to organs, than waiting for term delivery.

There is no way that D & E is safer than a C section, for instance and I don't believe that a manipulation such as D & E is safer than induced labor. The "benefit" is in time (both for the "doctor" and the mother) and in facility costs (1 to 3 days of in patient or observed forced labor) and - here's the real reason for PBA - the assurance of ending up with a dead child.

As though a dead child is not a child, at all.


For abortionist - favorable statistics and info, look at the Alan Guttmacher institute's info page. (The AGI is the "research and policy" arm of Planned Parenthood.)

http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/fb_induced_abortion.html

By the way, (blatantly, unapologetically, asking for money, here) if you appreciate the illustrations on PBA, they were provided to Senator Santorum and colleagues by Dr. Anthony Levantino, one of the founders of Physicians Life Alliance, which sponsors Medical Students for Life, as we attempt to give an alternative to the PP's $4 million per year support of Medical Students for Choice. (I'm on the board, too.) All of our money comes from donations. If you'd like to join or donate, here's the address:
http://www.physicianslifealliance.org/

[MHGinTN]

bttt

[cpforlife.org]

Thanks for your # 16 hocndoc

Technical Question: What about moving an ectopic pregnancy into the uterus?

[cpforlife.org]

Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Trial Begins, Opening Statements Given

http://www.lifenews.com/nat410.html

by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
March 29, 2004

New York, NY (LifeNews.com) -- The first of three separate trials of lawsuits filed by those seeking to overturn the ban on partial-birth abortions began on Monday in New York. An attorney for the National Abortion Federation, a trade group of abortion businesses, said the abortion ban was unconstitutional for a variety of reasons.

Attorney A. Stephen Hut told U.S. District Court Judge Richard Casey that the ban should be declared unconstitutional for many reasons, including its vagueness and that it lacks an exception allowing abortions to protect a woman's health.

"[O]ur evidence will show the court that this act unconstitutionally compromises a woman's right to reproductive choice and it is designed to remove the abortion alternatives," Hut told the court, the Associated Press reports.

Hut said the trial would include descriptions of partial-birth abortions that are "very raw" and "not for the faint of heart."

But one pro-life law firm that has filed a firend-of-the court brief in the cases says that's good news. Pro-life groups have cited the educational aspects of the partial-birth abortion ban as a second reason to put forward the legislation.

"The opportunity to present testimony showing the horrific nature of this procedure is an important ingredient in defending the national ban on partial-birth abortion," said Jay Sekulow, Chief Counsel of the American Center for Law and Justice.

NAF insists that partial-birth abortions must remain legal to help women in rare, severe medical cases.

"The law has no exception to protect a woman's health; it prohibits abortions doctors say are safe and medically appropriate. To safeguard women's health, medical decisions must be made by doctors and not by politicians," said Vicki Saporta, president and CEO of the National Abortion Federation.

But many doctors insist that's not the case.

The Physicians' Ad Hoc Coalition for Truth (PHACT) -- a group of over 600 physician-specialists (mostly in obstetrics, perinatology, and related disciplines) -- says partial-birth abortions no only are unnecessary to protect the health of a woman, but actually do more harm than good.

In September, 1996, former Surgeon General C. Everett Koop and other PHACT members wrote members of Congers saying that "partial-birth abortion is never medically necessary to protect a mother's health or her future fertility. On the contrary, this procedure can pose a significant threat to both.”

“We, and many other doctors across the United States, regularly treat women whose unborn children suffer ... serious conditions," the group adds. "Never is the partial-birth procedure medically indicated. Rather, such infants are regularly and safely delivered live, vaginally, with no threat to the mother's health or fertility.”

The Bush administration agrees.

"[T]his violent practice is unnecessary, as well as painful and cruel to the partially-born child," Monica Goodling, a Justice Department spokeswoman said. "A bipartisan majority in Congress reached this conclusion after eight years of testimony from respected medical professionals who stated that partial-birth abortion is never medically necessary."

Regardless of the outcome of the district court trials, the results will likely be appealed to the federal appeals court level. Beyond that, they will almost certainly land at the feet of the nation's high court.

"This is the beginning of a very long legal road that ultimately leads to the Supreme Court of the United States," said

The abortion businesses that belong to Saporta's group are responsible for more than half of all abortions performed in the United States annually. Planned Parenthood is the single largest abortion business.

[MHGinTN]

"[O]ur evidence will show the court that this act unconstitutionally compromises a woman's right to reproductive choice hire a serial killer to murder an alive unborn child and it is designed to remove the abortion murder alternative(s)," Hut told the court, the Associated Press reports.