A particularly gruesome abortion procedure has been debated on and off since 1995. Several bills making the 'partial birth' method of abortion illegal came close to becoming law, but languished under President Clinton. Now, with a pro-life President in the White House, Congress is raising the issue again.
The intensity of debate over this bill on Capitol Hill has shown that these late-term abortions, which are also known as 'dilation and extraction' abortions, have hit a painful nerve with Americans. Pro-life members of Congress have been graphic in their descriptions of the horrifying nature of the procedure and vigorous in their calls to outlaw it. Pro-abortion members have reacted in an equally vehement manner, demonstrating the extreme to which they are willing to go in defending a woman's so-called 'right' to abortion.
Pro-life members of Congress have used drawings to show how a partial birth abortion is done. Doctors giving testimony in hearings prior to the vote have used fetal models to demonstrate the procedure's brutality. The news media captured these images and transmitted them to newspapers and television sets across the country.
The New York Times published this accurate description of the method: "the doctor partially removes the fetus from the womb, uses scissors to open an incision in the back of the skull and then removes the brain, thereby collapsing the head for easier removal of the fetus." Attention of this kind rarely occurs, illustrating the power of an 'act of Congress.'
Although many Americans who consider themselves pro-choice draw the line at late-term abortions, some abortion proponents in Congress are unwilling to make distinctions. They tried to banish the drawings from the House floor, and complained that such bills were a proverbial camel's-nose-under-the-tent attempt to end all abortions. In a fit of hysteria, one representative wondered whether Congress would next outlaw hysterectomies for women of child-bearing age.
In the end, many Representatives and Senators who normally support abortion were reasonable enough to vote for the bill. This showed that groups such as the National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League, Planned Parenthood, and the National Organization for Women -- and their lackeys in Congress -- are on the 'fanatical fringe' of the pro-abortion movement. Kate Michelman of NARRAL considers protecting babies from such abortions an "outrage."
Caught in lies
Part of the protest against bills to outlaw partial birth abortions centered on the relative rarity of the procedure. Out of 1.5 million abortions per year, 'only' 13,000 are late term. Pro-aborts insist the procedure is reserved for mothers whose lives are in danger, or on occasions when the baby is known to have severe abnormalities. Martin Haskell, the Ohio abortionist who designed the procedure and is responsible for performing most of them, says, however, that only 20 percent have been done for "genetic reasons" and the rest are purely elective." (See What About Prenatal Testing?)
Another abortionist who uses this procedure, Dr. James McMahon of California, testified that fifty percent of his cases were perfectly healthy and the only flaw of nine others was a cleft lip.
A press release issued by Planned Parenthood said partial birth abortions were necessary in cases when "the fetus has developed a deadly disease that can be passed to the woman." No one seemed to notice the absurdity of this statement. Mothers can pass diseases on to their unborn babies, but not the other way around. According to the medical textbook William's Obstetrics, abortion is never indicated for this reason.
Partial birth proponents then claimed that the anesthesia used in the procedure to block the mother's pain is what actually kills the baby, not the puncture of the skull. Anesthesiologists responded quickly and strongly, saying the idea is "crazy." In an American Medical News article (1/1/96), Dr. David Birnbach, MD, the director of obstetric anesthesiology at St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center in New York and the vice president of the Society for Obstetric Anesthesia and Perinatalogy, responded. "Everyday we have pregnant women who break their ankles, need knee surgery, have appendectomies, gallbladder removals, breast biopsies, and so on. Anesthetics done safely by an anesthesiologist do not do harm to either the mother or the baby." He worried that pregnant women hearing such irresponsible statements might be caused unnecessary concern.
Abortion proponents' also claimed that anesthesia kills the baby by suppressing his or her respiration. Dr. Birnbach explained that baby's don't breathe in the womb anyway. Plus, any child born with depressed respiration can be helped medically.
Pro-aborts also tried to claim that the anesthesia had a humanitarian as well as deathly effect on unborn babies destined for a partial birth abortion. In support of partial birth abortion, Dr. Mary Campbell of Planned Parenthood said, "these drugs prevent the perception of pain by the fetus." Yes, babies at this stage can feel pain, and a partial birth abortion must be excruciatingly painful, but anesthesia given to the mother is not enough to relieve the baby. Dr. Michael J. Murray, MD, an anesthesiologist at Mayo Clinic and the president of the Minnesota Medical Association, points out that during prenatal surgery both mom and unborn baby are given pain killers.
Critics say banning partial birth abortions will "limit women's rights," but other late-term abortion techniques, such as dilation 
and evacuation, in which the abortionist tears the baby apart while it is still in the womb, and early induction of labor are still legal. The latter method is more expensive and more difficult psychologically for the mother, but is not more physically dangerous than partial birth.
Dr. Pamela Smith, of Chicago's Mount Sinai Hospital, said the partial birth method is never medically necessary and its experimental nature would actually endanger a woman. If this procedure were so crucial to women's safety, you'd think there would be more than 450 of them a year, as reported by the National Abortion Federation.
Colorado abortionist, Dr. Warren Hern, who wrote a textbook on abortion practice, conceded that partial birth abortions are not critical to women's rights. "The medical community has not determined the very best way to do late-term abortions. . . This method is a minor variation on what I've been doing for 20 years."
Other considerations
- The partial birth method is reserved for abortions done after 20 weeks gestation, or the fifth month of pregnancy. Prematurely delivered babies have survived at this stage.
- What does abortion for minor defects such as cleft lip imply for handicapped people already born, or their parents? Should they be considered foolish for not having "fixed" their problem through abortion?
- Such a cruel death would never be inflicted on a convicted murderer and would be considered inhumane treatment of an animal. Of course, any method of abortion is the cruel and inhumane treatment of an innocent person.
- Most often, babies aborted because they are found to have severe abnormalities are 'wanted' or 'planned' children. Their mothers were prepared to undertake the risks of childbirth. Knowing that whether they abort or carry the child to term their child will die, why not have the satisfaction of knowing they let their babies live as long as possible? The abortion of wanted pregnancies is known to be especially traumatic for women and their families.
- Diagnoses of severe abnormalities in unborn babies can be wrong. Also, abortion does not cure the problem, but kills the patient.
- Supporters of the ban argue that once a baby's head is outside his or her mother's body, the child's life is protected. As law currently stands, only three inches separate an abortion procedure from homicide.
- Legislation aims at the doctors performing partial birth abortions, not the women obtaining them. Doctors found guilty of using this method could be fined, spend up to two years in prison, and be liable for lawsuits. Doctors able to prove such an abortion was the only way to save a mother's life would be exempt.
- Opponents of the ban say Congress shouldn't be telling doctors what procedures they can and cannot use, but when doctors won't police themselves, it's up to the law to do it for them.
- Opponents of the ban also say this procedure ensures a woman will still be able to have other children, but pro-life doctors say that partial birth abortions can lead to cervical incompetence, which is one cause of miscarriages. (See What About Assisted Fertility?)
- Opponents of PBA bans want the legislation to say that a doctor may do a partial birth abortion to preserve not only a woman's life, but also her health. Practically any abortion could be justified on this basis. 'Health' is a broad category, covering a woman's emotional, social, financial as well as physical needs.
- Since the baby is so close to birth, some wonder why the abortionist doesn't allow him or her to live. Dr. Haskell has said, "The point here is you're attempting to do an abortion . . . not to see how I can manipulate the situation so that I get a live birth instead."
- There are conditions in which a baby's head is so severely enlarged by excess fluid that even a Cesarean delivery is dangerous to the mother. However, the standard procedure is to draw off the excess fluid through a needle without killing the baby.
- Critics of such bills say they represent a constitutional challenge to Roe v. Wade. Roe did not, however, find that a woman's right to abortion is absolute, but allowed the government and the medical community to limit it.
- One effect of such legislation could be to make doctors increasingly uneasy about using other second- or third-trimester abortion methods because, if something goes wrong, they could face prosecution.
- Pro-aborts said the "gross-out" factor should be discounted; people would feel the same queasiness about descriptions of hip replacement surgery as about a partial birth abortion. They should understand, however, that hip replacement surgery does not involve the death of an innocent person as part of the cure.
- The American Medical Association's legislative council has recommended endorsing legislation banning partial birth abortion.