The dispute over partial birth abortion is one that is extremely controversial, disturbing, and sometimes very difficult to understand. During the past decade, it has been an ongoing issue for debate in state and federal courts throughout the country. In 2003, Congress passed the Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act, prohibiting these types of abortions throughout the United States. Even though Congress made partial birth abortions illegal, there are still many people fighting the ban, claiming that it takes away a woman’s right to choose. An unborn baby, so close to being born, has rights as well. That baby has the right to live, grow, and develop just like everyone else. Partial Birth abortion steals these rights from the unborn child in a barbaric and painful procedure that is both unsafe and medically unnecessary.
A partial birth abortion is one that is performed in the mother’s third trimester of pregnancy. This means that the unborn child is twenty weeks or older at the time of death. At twenty weeks, an unborn child has developed arms and legs, toes and fingers, a head, a chest, a torso, all body parts that an adult human also has. The baby has its own heartbeat, and has begun to develop nerve sensors in the brain. The process of partial birth abortion is gruesome, and can be painful for the unborn child, from the time the doctor grabs onto the baby’s legs, until it finally succumbs to its death. In order for the doctor to forcibly remove the unwanted child from the mother’s womb, the doctor first has to artificially dilate the mother’s cervix. This can take anywhere from twenty four to forty eight hours, since the body is not ready to deliver the baby. After the mother is fully dilated, the doctor has to reach into the uterus and clutch the infant’s feet and forcibly pull the infant into the birth canal. The fully developed feet, arms, and torso of the infant are then delivered into the world, assuming that all of the limbs have come out in one piece. Sometimes, doctors have to go in after the procedure and remove any excess body parts that had become dismembered while being pulled through the birth canal.
After the baby’s body has been delivered, the doctor has to make sure to keep the baby’s skull inside of the cervix. This is because if the head moves down two or three more inches and slips past the opening of the cervix, the baby would have to be considered as a prematurely delivered baby, and not as an aborted baby. While holding the baby in place, the doctor then has to kill the baby, so that it is deceased when pulled the rest of the way out. The doctor impales the infant’s skull with a sharp object, usually scissors, forming a hole in the back of the head. The hole is widened with forceps so that the brain tissue of the unborn child can then be suctioned out of the skull with a powerful vacuum tube. The infant’s skull then collapses in on itself, and the baby is declared deceased. (Monahan and Willke)
Many people argue that the unborn child cannot feel the pain. However, scientific studies published in The Journal of Neuroscience in 2006 proved that a fetus will begin to develop nerve sensations late in the second trimester, and can certainly experience pain in the third trimester. Because anesthesia is not used during the procedure, the baby can feel everything right up to the moment of death; being grabbed by the leg and pulled down the birth canal, limbs becoming detached, and finally, its skull and brain being punctured. It is also another common misbelieve that, because of anesthetics, the baby is either too drugged to feel anything, or is dead before the procedure is started. As stated above, anesthesia is not commonly used, and even if it were, a dosage capable of killing the fetus or rendering it incapable of feeling pain would be so high it would put the mother’s own health at risk. (Giannakoulopouloset et al, and Slater et al)As if these scientific studies are not proof enough that the unborn baby can indeed feel pain, an eye witness described what happened while she was assisting a doctor during her first, and last, partial birth abortion. Brenda Pratt Schafer, a registered nurse for thirteen years, had been assigned to work at an abortion clinic by her nursing agency. Brenda was pro- choice, so she believed that working at the abortion clinic would not be a problem for her. What she saw at the clinic haunted her for the rest of her life.
“I stood at the doctor’s side and watched him perform a partial-birth abortion on a woman who was six months pregnant. The baby’s heartbeat was clearly visible on the ultrasound screen. The doctor delivered the baby’s body and arms, everything but his little head. The baby’s body was moving. His little fingers were clasping together. He was kicking his feet. The doctor took a pair of scissors and inserted them into the back of the baby’s head, and the baby’s arms jerked out in a flinch, a startle reaction, like a baby does when he thinks that he might fall. Then the doctor opened the scissors up. Then he stuck the high-powered suction tube into the hole and sucked the baby’s brains out. Now the baby was completely limp. I never went back to the clinic. But I am still haunted by the face of that little boy. It was the most perfect, angelic face I have ever seen.”
According to Nurse Schafer, the baby came out moving his hands and feet, and was reacting to the physical pain of the procedure that the doctor was putting him through. The baby did not go completely limp until AFTER the brain tissue was completely removed, showing that the baby was moving his body around, just like a baby would be during a delivery at nine months. Without a doubt, this proves that this poor infant was partially delivered, alive, his hands and feet moving outside of his mother’s body, before his life was taken from him. (“What the Nurse Saw”)
Pro- choice advocates will also argue that in some cases, a partial birth abortion is necessary because the mother’s health or future fertility is at risk, and terminating the pregnancy at such a late stage is the only way to save her. However, once again, it has been proven and stated by the American Medical Association, The Physician’s Coalition for Truth, Surgeon General Koop, and The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), that there are “no medical conditions, either maternal or fetal, that necessitate the use or partial birth abortion to remove the baby, or to preserve the mother’s health or future fertility.” The group ACOG, which is pro- abortion, later said that partial birth abortion may still be beneficial to the mother’s health, but could cite no specifications, and was disputed by hundreds of doctors within its own association. In the Partial Abortion Ban passed by Congress, it is also stated that “the facts indicate that a partial birth abortion is never necessary to preserve the health of the woman…” (Monahan and Willke, United States Congress)
Even doctors, who had admitted to performing partial birth abortions for “medical reasons” have come forth and stated that the reasons for the abortion were not medical in nature. Ron Fitzimmons, the executive director of the National Coalition of Abortion Providers, was interviewed on the topic during a taping of “Nightline”. He originally said that these types of abortions were rare, and were only performed to save the mother’s life or to ensure her reproductive organs remained intact. He later recanted this statement, admitting that many partial birth abortions are performed on health women who do not want their babies. (Gianelli, Diane)
Some other horrifying facts have emerged from doctors that have performed this procedure. Dr. James McMahon claimed that some of the abortions were done because of the health of the fetus, while records later indicated that nine of these fetuses only “health” problem was a cleft pallet. He also went on to say that some abortions were done for the “health” of the mother, and later described the health problem to either be depression or the “young age” of the mother. These are not life threatening conditions. Depression can be common in pregnant women, because of hormone fluctuations, and can be treated. To say that the age of the mother was complicating the pregnancy is ludicrous. In earlier times, women were bearing children at twelve and thirteen years of age. There are no medical risks associated with the “young age” of the mother.
The only health risks that are associated with partial birth abortion are life threatening risks that could endanger the life of the mother during and after the procedure. Congress stated that a mother who decides to undergo a partial birth abortion is at serious risk of suffering from future cervical incompetence, which would result in the mother having extreme difficulty carrying another pregnancy full term, if her fertility is not completely compromised from the abortion. Another serious medical risk is the possibility of the uterus rupturing while the procedure is being performed. This would cause an extreme blood loss for the mother, and in severe cases, death. The mother could be exposed to lacerations and secondary hemorrhaging due to the doctor forcing the baby through the birth canal and the puncturing a hole in its skull while it is still inside the cervix. (Nrlc.org, Monahan and Willke, United States Congress)
Despite the overwhelming amounts of scientific and medical results and testimonies, pro- choice advocates will always argue that the mother still has the right to choose whether or not she wants to abort or keep the baby. There are states where abortion is legal, and if the mother chooses, in the first or second semester to abort, then that is her choice. Do I agree with it? Absolutely not, but in those states, the law allows it. The argument here is, why, if the mother can abort then, she can’t opt for a partial birth abortion later in the pregnancy. This was argued during two court cases, Roe v. Wade in 1973, and Planned Parenthood v. Casey in 1992. The courts decided that the killing of a baby, when labor has been induced and the birth process has started, is a form of infanticide. The child is in the state of being born, and is delivered to the outside of the mothers body just like a normal birth would happen, except for its head. In these cases, the courts stated that a baby, completely born, is considered a person, and has full constitutional rights. They went on to say that the government has a “heightened” interest in the rights of the partially born baby, because it is mere inches away from becoming a person.
There are arguments that a partial birth abortion is what is best for babies who would be born with life- altering diseases, such as Down Syndrome or Trisomy 18. Some doctors will argue that it is in the best interest for babies that would be born with organs attached to the outside of the body. There are many people out there that are more than willing to adopt and take care of a baby born with Down Syndrome. Trisomy 18 is a genetic disease that gives the baby a short life span, usually only a few hours to few weeks. People argue that the emotional pain that the mother will suffer is far worse than having an abortion. But nothing can replace being able to spend precious moments with a baby, even if it is only living its life for a very short period of time. When it comes to babies that would be born with deformities such as organs attached to the outside of the body, many doctors will say that, in a lot of cases, this is not life threatening, and the baby can undergo surgery. The baby then goes on to live a happy, normal life with no complications due to being born that way. (Nrlc.org, Monahan and Willke)
Partial birth abortion is undeniably wrong, and there is no justification for it. This has been proven by scientific studies, medical testimony by doctors, a surgeon general, congress, and a compelling eyewitness’s account. Every baby has the right to live. No one has the right to play God, and decide who gets the right to live, and who does not. I’m sure if the helpless unborn child had a voice, they would be choosing life instead of being put through this excruciating painful process before being put to death. Let the babies choose life.
Bibliography
Slater, R, A. Cantarella, S. Gallella, A. Worley, S. Boyd, J. Meek, and M. Fitzgerald. “Cortical Pain Responses in Human Infants”. The Journal of Neuroscience 26: 3662-3666 (2006) Web. 15 February 2010.Giannakoulopoulos X, Sepulveda W, Kourris P, Glover V, and Fisk NM. “Fetal plasma cortisol and beta-endorphin response to intrauterine needling”. Lancet 344:77-81. (1994) Web. 15 February 2010.Nrlc.org, National Right to Life Committee. 2010. Web. 15 February 2010″What the Nurse Saw”. Nrlc.org. National Right to Life Committee, n.d. Web. 15 February 2010 Gianelli, Diane. “Abortion rights leader urges ends to ‘half truths'”. American Medical News 40:3, 54-55. (1997) Web. 15 February 2010.Monahan, Michael and Willke, Dr. J.C. “Why Can’t We Love them Both.” Abortionfacts.com, Heritage House ’76. 2006. Web. 16 February 2010.United States Congress. ”Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003”. gpo.gov, United States Government Printing Office, 2003. Web. 16 February 2010.
