Abortion Essay, Research Paper

Partial-Birth Abortions

“There has never been a greater need to speak out against the barbaric procedure of partial-birth abortions.”

A partial-birth abortion is a procedure, which is generally performed at twenty weeks of pregnancy or more. The procedure entails inducing the women into premature labor, using forceps to make for a breech position, then guided by ultrasound the baby’s legs are grabbed by forceps, then pulled out into the birth canal, where the baby is delivered except for the head, the abortionist then jams scissors into the baby’s skull, the scissors are opened to enlarge the hole, then the scissors are removed and a suction catheter is inserted, and the child’s brains are then sucked out, causing the skull to collapse. The dead infant is then removed.

The majority of these types of abortions are performed in the twenty-seventh week, and are for purely social issues. One partial-birth specialist, the late Dr. James McMahon, regularly performed the procedure even after twenty-six weeks and into the ninth month. In fact, he submitted to the House Judiciary Constitution subcommittee a graph and explanation that explicitly showed that he had aborted healthy babies even in the third trimester.

In 1993 the American Medical News reported that the majority of fetuses aborted this way are alive until the end of the procedure. In 1995 Brenda Shafer a registered nurse gave testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee that in 1993 she stood along the side of Dr. Haskell, a partial -birth abortion specialist, during three of these procedures. “He delivered the baby’s body and the arms–everything but the head. The doctor kept the baby’s head just inside the uterus. The baby’s fingers were clasping and unclasping, and his feet were kicking. Then the doctor stuck the scissors through the back of his head, and the baby’s arms jerked out in a flinch, a startle reaction, like a baby does when he thinks he may fall. The doctor opened up the scissors, stuck a high-powered suction tube into the opening and sucked the baby’s brains out. Now the baby was completely limp.” This proves without a doubt that these babies are alive.

With it being said, that the baby is alive when this takes place it is obvious that the baby feels pain during the procedure. On March 21, 1996, four leading experts testified in front of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, that these infants possess the neurological equipment to respond to painful stimuli, whether the mother is anesthetized or not. This means that the baby feels the doctor slowly killing her. This is not what was intended when abortion laws were passed.

Preemptive abortion and early uterine evacuation, performed at six to eight weeks of pregnancy is what most of us think of, when we think of abortion. This is why at least thirty states have passed laws against this late-term abortion procedure. Our state, even has passed a ban against this awful procedure. President Bush has said several times that he would put a federal ban on partial-birth abortion. In a statement made by our president on the twenty-sixth of January 2001, he said “We share a great goal: to work toward a day when every child is welcomed in life and protected in law.” Former president Clinton, had the opportunity to make this goal at least a partial reality but instead, vetoed bills passed by congress that would have banned partial-birth abortions, but. He said he wouldn’t sign the bill unless it would make exceptions to protect the mother’s health. In doing that it would have left too many loopholes, which doctors would have used to perform the procedure anyway.

After reviewing the facts and legal issues of this procedure, I feel it is murder. When a child who could otherwise be born and given life, has its brains sucked out, it is no longer freedom of choice, but cold blooded murder.