Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

The Ugly & Hidden Truth About Partial Birth Abortion
World Magazine ^ | 04.17.04 | Lynn Vincent

Posted on 04/12/2004 10:23:30 PM PDT by Coleus

The Ugly Truth

COVER STORY: Exsanguination or draining of blood? A federal judge is demanding that abortion-industry witnesses speak in plain English as he considers one of three challenges to a federal law banning partial-birth abortions. But despite all the sensational testimony and courtroom drama, the major news media are paying no attention

By Lynn Vincent

National Abortion Federation doctors are proving themselves an innovative lot. During testimony on April 6 in a New York courtroom, one abortionist told the presiding judge about a new method she uses to kill late-term babies during partial-birth abortions. Instead of decapitating the child or sucking out its brain with medical instruments like other late-term specialists, she pokes her finger up into the woman's uterus and uses it to crush the baby's skull.

That brand of gruesome testimony is entering the official record daily as a trio of separate trials targeting the Partial Birth Abortion (PBA) Ban Act of 2003 unfolds in three cities. After President Bush signed the law in November, the National Abortion Federation, Planned Parenthood, the ACLU, and others filed suits challenging the measure. Now judges in New York, San Francisco, and Lincoln, Neb., are hearing evidence in juryless trials before deciding whether the ban violates the Constitution.

"Intact dilation and extraction," or "D&X" abortion, as PBA is known medically, involves partially delivering, then puncturing the skull of a baby who is too well developed to be efficiently killed by other abortion methods.

The most riveting testimony has come from New York, where Judge Richard C. Casey has repeatedly swept aside scientific-sounding jargon, revealing not only the graphic truth about PBA but also the abortion industry's conscious use of euphemism to describe it.

"The testimony of these abortion providers unlocks the door to a secret world of torturous death that includes dismemberment and decapitation of unborn children whose lives are taken by partial-birth abortion," said Jay Sekulow, Chief Counsel at the American Center for Law and Justice. "The testimony of the abortion providers is not only revealing gruesome details about a procedure that amounts to infanticide but is setting the stage for the Department of Justice to prove that this procedure is never medically necessary."

The testimony has been explosive from the start. On March 31, for instance, an anonymous abortionist testified about what he observed during a partial-birth abortion: "What they did, they delivered the fetus intact until the head was lodged in the cervix," the doctor said. "Then they reached up and crushed it. They used forceps to crush the skull."

"Like a cracker that they use to crack a lobster shell?" Judge Casey asked regarding the forceps.

The doctor answered, "Like an end of tongs you use to pick up a salad, except they are thick enough and heavy enough to crush the skull."

Judge Casey responded, "Except in this case you are not picking up a salad, you are crushing a baby's skull."

Then Judge Casey asked, "The fetus is still alive at this point?"

"Yes, sir."

"The fingers of the baby opened and closed?"

"I did not observe the hands when I observed the procedure."

"Were the feet moving?"

"Yes, sir, until the skull was crushed."

Judge Casey also questioned Timothy Johnson, a University of Michigan research scientist, about whether doctors tell a woman that PBA includes "sucking the brain out of the skull."

"I don't think we would use those terms," Dr. Johnson said. "I think we would probably use a term like 'decompression of the skull' or 'reducing the contents of the skull.'"

"Make it nice and palatable so that they wouldn't understand what it's all about?" the judge responded. "... It is so much nicer to say it that way?"

"Yes," Dr. Johnson said.

On April 5, Judge Casey, who was appointed to the federal bench by Bill Clinton, continued with his line of questioning, trying to determine just what a mother is told about the partial-birth abortion procedure. "Do you use simple English words, so they know what they are doing and authorizing?" he asked a witness supplied by the National Abortion Federation (NAF). When she answered yes, he probed further: "Do you discuss the killing of the fetus?"

"I tell them that when I cut the umbilical cord of the fetus, the fetus exsanguinates."

"Exsanguinwhat?" the judge replied.

"In layman's terms, it would be drained of blood."

"Do you tell them that?"

"No."

Judge Casey's probing questions and his insistence on plain—even graphic—language has at times caused strain in the courtroom. "Do you tell the mother the fetus will feel pain?" he asked the NAF abortionist on April 5.

"I have never talked to a fetus," she snapped.

"I did not ask you that," the judge pressed on. "Do you ever tell the mother?"

At that point, according to Mr. Sekulow, the witness became "very angry" and raised her voice in response to the judge. "That is what I tell my patients, I'm sorry! ... I do not believe the fetus feels pain, so I do not tell them that." Did she ever bother to read the literature on fetal pain, the judge wanted to know? She admitted that she had not.

Throughout the trial, already in its second week, Judge Casey has seemed particularly interested in the reason partial-birth abortions are performed. Though he requested records that could establish the medical necessity of the procedure, hospitals and abortion clinics refused to comply, based on privacy concerns. That left the judge to question doctors appearing on the witness stand.

Testifying on April 1, Dr. Carolyn Westhoff, a New York abortionist, said the vast majority of procedures are performed in cases of "fetal anomalies." Though Down's syndrome and hydrocephalus were frequently discussed throughout the trial as reasons a mother might choose a partial-birth abortion, experts had already testified that "any kind of genetic defect" might lead to such a choice.

Judge Casey zeroed in on one such possible defect. He wanted to know whether prenatal tests now allow a mother to "detect in advance that a baby will be born blind."

"Not that I'm aware of," Dr. Westhoff replied to the judge, who is himself blind.

The graphic testimony in New York contrasts sharply with the more sterile, euphemized language in San Francisco. The judge in the latter case has allowed the use of medical jargon that masks the ugly reality of the procedure. One abortionist, for example, spoke of "separating the fetal calvarium from the fetal body"—in other words, decapitating the baby that has already been delivered outside the mother's uterus. And the judge himself speaks of "disarticulating" a baby, rather than "dismembering" or cutting her in pieces.

Although the media usually love sensational trials, the explosive testimony in New York has gone almost entirely unreported. For instance, a Lexis-Nexis search shows that an Associated Press report detailing Judge Casey's questions about fetal pain ran just in one daily newspaper in Lancaster, Pa. AP stories are typically picked up by hundreds of papers across the country. TV networks, meanwhile, have ignored the trials completely.

There will be no ignoring the legal fallout of the trials, and their all-but-certain appeals, however. If federal appellate courts split—if one circuit upholds the ban, for instance, while another overturns it—the issue will almost certainly wind up before the Supreme Court. The government's arguments defending the ban are based on three points: that no maternal or fetal conditions make PBA necessary for a mother's health; that the procedure offers no safety advantages; and that PBA "blurs the line between an abortion and a live birth."

Justice Department attorneys already have exposed the lack of maternal health justifications for PBA, Mr. Sekulow said. For instance, asked if he had ever found an instance where the mother's health necessitated a D&X abortion, an NAF doctor had to admit that he had not. Another NAF witness testified: "The whole [PBA] procedure is a risky procedure."

Testimony in all three cases is expected to continue throughout April, but the graphically honest testimony is likely to echo much longer.

(USCCB) Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act, Trial Info. & Transcripts: New York, Nebraska, California

Doctor testifies in abortion case that fetuses feel pain after 20 weeks

Protecting the Ban on Partial-Birth AbortionA Trial Notebook by Jay Sekulow

Partial Birth Abortion Ban Court Transcripts (Please read & Forward to EVERYONE)

Partial Birth Abortion Trial Notebook (Graphic, but Important)

Criticism Continues Over NAACP's Decision to Endorse Abortion

Kerry Ignores Reproaches of Some Bishops

Partial-birth abortion: dispelling the myths

Doctors Testify in Three Abortion Trials

PBA


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Extended News; Government; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections; US: California; US: Nebraska; US: New York
KEYWORDS: abortion; abortionlist; babykilling; bias; blood; catholiclist; christianlist; coverup; decapitation; drainingofblood; exsanguination; infanticide; judgecasey; leftwingpress; mediabias; murder; partialbirthabortion; pba; pbalist; pbamyths; prolife; youlostgetoverit
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-35 next last

1 posted on 04/12/2004 10:23:32 PM PDT by Coleus
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: 2ndMostConservativeBrdMember; afraidfortherepublic; Alas; al_c; american colleen; annalex; ...
`
2 posted on 04/12/2004 10:27:21 PM PDT by Coleus (What were Ted Kennedy and his nephew doing on Good Friday in 1991? Getting Drunk and Raping Women)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Coleus
Isn't the preparation for a part-birth abortion an "arranging" of a breech birth, but not allowing the birth to proceed?
3 posted on 04/12/2004 10:32:28 PM PDT by Waco
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Coleus
I sincerely think this Judge Casey is one of the greatest people alive on earth today. He makes me SO PROUD to be an Irish-American from New York. He is making these shameful disgusting people speak THE TRUTH. Thank God I lived to see this day.

4 posted on 04/12/2004 10:33:34 PM PDT by jocon307 (The dems don't get it, the American people do.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: MHGinTN; Coleus; nickcarraway; Mr. Silverback; Canticle_of_Deborah; TenthAmendmentChampion; ...
"the major news media are paying no attention"

There is indeed a MAJOR effort to block this. Thats why we have to forward to everyone we can.

Also, please email Matt Drudge, drudge@drudgereport.com and ask him to link to http://www.worldmag.com/world/issue/04-17-04/cover_1.asp

Kudos to Coleus for a great post.

5 posted on 04/12/2004 10:40:13 PM PDT by cpforlife.org (The Missing Key of the Pro-Life Movement is at www.CpForLife.org)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Coleus
Just saw seal pups being clubed on foxnews. they said 350,000 will be killed this year.

they'll be tons more outrage over this than the 50 million abortions carried out globally each year.
6 posted on 04/12/2004 10:44:22 PM PDT by cpforlife.org (The Missing Key of the Pro-Life Movement is at www.CpForLife.org)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: jocon307
The blind judge certainly "sees" through the PBA obfuscation, doesn't he?
7 posted on 04/12/2004 10:50:13 PM PDT by litany_of_lies
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: Coleus
"Exsanguinwhat?" I love it! God bless this judge for bringing the truth to the foreground of this debate.

For too long, fetal pain has been left out of the equation entirely. I hope this is only a first step. Gruesome and heinous as PBA is, a child who is torn apart limb by limb will surely suffer an even more torturous death than the one who receives a quick stab to the skull.
8 posted on 04/12/2004 11:03:55 PM PDT by Tabi Katz
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: cpforlife.org; Coleus
Last Friday morning I had to run an errand. About 10 blocks from our house here in Modesto,CA, I notice a large group of people walking down the sidewalk. My curiosity got the best of me, so I turned in their direction.

At first glance, I saw about 25 folks - some carrying signs. As I got to the intersection, I noticed that the group had turned left and were headed east down the sidewalk. The I read a couple of the signs while in the left turn lane. "God Loves Pro-Life" on one, and "Abortion Kills Babies" read another.

The light changed to green and I headed east - paralleling the marchers honking my horn and giving a thumbs up signal to them.

What I saw at first glance, was the tail end of the marchers. The line stretched eastward for 7 blocks. There had to have been at least 300 marchers of all ages. Leading the "parade" was a priest.

A Kodak moment if I ever saw one, so I went back home to get the camera and got shots of the marchers as I drove west along their route.

A photo in the newspaper on Saturday morning identified the group as having come from St. Stanislaus Catholic Church's Pro-Life program. The accompanying text to the article stated that their parade route took them right past the local abortion clinic.

This photo only shows a small portion of the group. I shot it while driving, honking and cheering them on.


9 posted on 04/12/2004 11:05:29 PM PDT by Diver Dave
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: Tabi Katz
But Tabi, don't forget that parents who want an intact "fetus" to mourn. Freegards!
10 posted on 04/12/2004 11:09:54 PM PDT by jocon307 (The dems don't get it, the American people do.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: Waco
"Isn't the preparation for a part-birth abortion an "arranging" of a breech birth, but not allowing the birth to proceed?"

Indeed it is. The abortionists call it Intact D & X for dilation (of the cervix) and extraction (of the child, which is intact).

It is difficult to imagine a more invasive procedure, so I always wonder: whatever happened to that "penumbra of privacy" the supreme court found?
11 posted on 04/12/2004 11:14:39 PM PDT by jocon307 (The dems don't get it, the American people do.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: jocon307
Freegards to you, my friend! What are you doing up at this psychotic hour? You're as nutty as I am! :-D
12 posted on 04/12/2004 11:29:56 PM PDT by Tabi Katz
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]

To: Coleus
Bump for life...
13 posted on 04/13/2004 2:57:23 AM PDT by Pharmboy (History's greatest agent for freedom: The US Armed Forces)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Coleus
Thanks for this, although it makes me sick. Thank God for FR.
14 posted on 04/13/2004 4:33:08 AM PDT by Aquinasfan (Isaiah 22:22, Rev 3:7, Mat 16:19)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: Diver Dave
Beautiful!
15 posted on 04/13/2004 4:34:41 AM PDT by Aquinasfan (Isaiah 22:22, Rev 3:7, Mat 16:19)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]

To: Diver Dave
I appreciate...(& I know they do!)..the time you took to acknowledge them & take pictures.

I've been part of that kind of 'enlightenment parade' ....off & on, for years.
..Many Protestant churches...(of which I am part) also participate as this Catholic church was doing...

..but I give kudos to the Catholic church as they kept this issue in the forefront for many years, when others weren't looking or caring!

16 posted on 04/13/2004 5:07:47 AM PDT by Guenevere (..., .Press on toward the goal!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]

To: Coleus
>> Judge Casey, who was appointed to the federal bench by Bill Clinton<<

God can sometimes even work through the devil to bring an angel to light!
17 posted on 04/13/2004 5:25:09 AM PDT by netmilsmom ("You can't fight AQ and hug Hamas" - C. Rice)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Coleus
It saddens me that it took a judge appointed by Clinton to shed some light on this, and the judge in my own home state of Nebraska is working against the ban.

When the history is written on the fall of the American Ideal, there will probably be a chapter on the auto-genocide of the unborn.
18 posted on 04/13/2004 5:47:08 AM PDT by redgolum
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Coleus
Judge Richard C. Casey

Is he, by any chance, kin to the late Robert Casey, the outspoken pro-life Democrat who was refused time to speak at the Dem Natl. Convention in 1988 (I think that was the date)?

19 posted on 04/13/2004 7:00:46 AM PDT by SuziQ
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Coleus
...the abortion industry's conscious use of euphemism to describe it.

Euphemism is the major weapon in the pro-death arsenal. In fact, it is--by far-- the most powerful weapon the Left has. And, of course, the obedient media repeats the euphemistic phrases until they become common Newspeak in our lexicon.

Break the code, force the lefties to speak in English, and the whole house of cards collapses.

20 posted on 04/13/2004 7:13:16 AM PDT by Skooz (My Biography: Psalm 40:1-3)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-35 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson