Partial Birth Abortion
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Please, watch this video before proceeding to view images of
partial birth abortion.
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Supreme Court Upholds Ban on Partial-birth Abortion (April 18, 2007)
The pictures you will see below are not fiction. They
are the definition of partial birth abortion. The
partial birth abortion has been performed legally in the United States for
years. It is neither a "rare" procedure, nor is it done only for babies who are
severely deformed or dying. It is, essentially, a variant of the even more
common and equally gruesome
Dilation and Evacuation (D&E) procedure.
In 1992, Dr. Martin Haskell presented his
paper on this procedure at a Risk Management Seminar of the National
Abortion Federation. He personally claims to have done over 700 himself (Interview
with Dr. Martin Haskell, AMA News, 1993), and points out that some 80%
are "purely elective." In a personal conversation with Fr. Frank Pavone, Dr.
Haskell explained that "elective" does not mean that the woman chooses the
procedure because of a medical necessity, but rather chooses it because she
wants an abortion. He admitted to Fr. Frank that there does not seem to be any
medical reason for this procedure. There are in fact absolutely no obstetrical
situations encountered in this country which require a partially delivered human
fetus to be destroyed to preserve the life or health of the mother (Dr.
Pamela Smith, Senate Hearing Record, p.82: Partial Birth Abortion Ban Medical
Testimony).
In April of 2000, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the
Stenberg vs. Carhart decision, which was handed down in June, 2000. The
Court struck down a Nebraska statute which had banned partial-birth abortion.
Nebraska, as well as over two dozen other states, had banned this procedure, but
the Court said the procedure should remain legal. One of the reasons given was
that any proposed ban must allow the procedure "for the health of the mother."
Fr. Pavone was present at the Supreme Court both for the oral arguments and on
the day the decision was issued. At a press conference on the Court steps,
Father asked the lead attorney from the pro-abortion side whether any evidence
presented to the Court had identified even a single medical circumstance in
which this procedure was the only way to preserve the mother's health. Of
course, none could be cited, and the reason is that none exist.
The Court argued, furthermore, that a "health reason" for the Partial-birth
abortion procedure was present if, in the judgment of the physician, it was
safer than alternative procedures. One of the problems with this line of
argument is that one can identify many circumstances in which it is safer for
the mother to deliver the child normally than to have a partial-birth abortion.
Normal delivery excludes the dangers that arise from inverting the position of
the child, and from inserting surgical instruments into the birth canal. Why not
argue, therefore, that "live-birth abortion" should be legal as a safer
alternative to partial-birth abortion. People like
Jill Stanek
have exposed this practice, in which children marked for abortion are born alive
and then killed. This is exactly where the logic of partial-birth abortion
leads.
On November 5, 2003, President George W. Bush signed into law the
Partial-birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003. Pro-abortion forces, not having the
support of the American public, challenged the law in court. Federal Courts in
the 2nd, 8th, and 9th Circuits ruled the ban unconstitutional. Now, the Supreme
Court has agreed to consider the case, and is reviewing the decisions of the 8th
and 9th Circuit courts. Oral arguments were heard on Wednesday, November 8,
2006.
On April 18, 2007 the Supreme Court announced its decision to uphold the ban
on partial-birth abortion.
Click
here for the text of the Supreme Court's decision to uphold the ban - PDF
format (April 18, 2007)
Click here for a press release regarding the Court's decision to uphold the ban.
(April 18, 2007)
Click here for
comments from Fr. Frank Pavone on the Court's decision to uphold the ban.
(April 18, 2007)
Click here for comments by President
Bush on the Court's decision to uphold the ban (April 18, 2007)
Click here for more
information on the Supreme Court's consideration of the ban and on the ruling of
the Circuit courts.
Priests for Life press
release on President Bush signing of the ban on Partial-birth abortion
(November 9, 2003)
Remarks of the President
upon signing the ban on Partial-birth abortion (November 5, 2003)
Transcripts of Court trials about the
partial-birth abortion ban
Commentary on
Partial-birth Abortion by Fr. Frank Pavone
More information on Partial Birth Abortion:
The medical paper of Dr.
Martin Haskell, September, 1992
A Witness to Partial-birth
Abortion
The
National Right to Life Web Page (Key info on Partial-birth abortion)
Listen to an audio tape on Partial-birth Abortion made early in the public
debate on this issue. [RealAudio]
[MP3 Format Part 1: Listen
or Download and
Part 2:
Listen or
Download]
The step beyond: It is a very simple step to move from aborting a baby
partially born to aborting a baby fully born. And it's a step we've already
taken. Here's evidence: Radio interview with Jill Stanek on "Live Birth"
abortion in [RealAudio] and [MP3
Format: Listen or
Download], and her
written testimony, complete with pictures.
The Partial Birth Abortion Procedure
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Guided by ultrasound, the abortionist grabs the baby's leg with
forceps. |
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The baby's leg is pulled out into the birth canal. |
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The abortionist delivers the baby's entire body, except for the
head. |
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The abortionist jams scissors into the baby's skull. The
scissors are then opened to enlarge the hole... |
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The scissors are removed and a suction catheter is inserted. The
child's brains are sucked out, causing the skull to collapse. The dead baby is
then removed. |
To see the most common alternative to partial-birth abortion, the Dilatation
and Evacuation procedure (D&E),
click here.
See more graphic images of what abortion looks like:
Click here.
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