Late Term Abortion

Late term abortion is a controversy that is forcing the government, medical societies across the nation, and the citizens of the United States to decide on an almost impossible question: Moral or Immoral? Abortion is once again a hot topic in the conversations of legislative circles and medical circles alike, and for the first time since Roe versus Wade, the government is trying to decide when personhood begins, and how to arrange a compromise that is acceptable to both sides of the controversy. The medical world is joining the battle, fighting for either patient-doctor rights or to make late term abortions illegal. The government should join with the medical community and inform the United States citizens of the true dangers of late term abortion and pass an absolute and complete ban on the procedures.

Late term abortion is defined as the ending of the life of a fetus from three to nine months. In abortion clinics now there are five procedures that are classified as late term abortions. The first is called Intact Dilation and Evacuation (intact D&E). The procedure is done over a period of two days, the first day beginning with the doctor inserting Laminaria (a seaweed based substance) into the cervix to induce dilation (or the widening of the cervix). The next day, a pair of long-handled forceps with jagged steel teeth are inserted into the uterus and used to rip and saw the baby apart. Then, a nurse reassembles the pieces assuring the doctor that everything was removed, to eliminate the possibility of infection within the woman after the procedure. The reason this form is preferred as the over-all best abortion method is because unlike any other late term procedures, it ensures the baby's death.

The second form is called Saline Poisoning, and it is usually chosen at about 16 weeks gestational age. The doctor inserts a long needle filled with a highly-salinized solution into the mother's stomach and into the amniotic sac (the sac the baby develops into, the baby feeds, breathes, and survives in this). The baby then swallows the fluid (turning the amniotic sac into the killer rather than the preserver) and it quickly acts as a strong corrosive; burning the lungs, stomach, and outer layer of skin. At about 24 hours labor sets in, it is usually very violent, and a dead or dying baby is born, although; often the babies are born alive they are usually left to die unattended.

The Upjohn Pharmaceutical Company has developed a very volatile chemical they now use to induce contractions so strong they often kill the child mid-birth. This procedure known as Prostaglandin Chemical Abortion has even caused the decapitation of children during the violent contractions. What is difficult to believe is that many children who were attempted abortions by this method have been born alive, left to die or adopted by loving families.

The fourth is a very commonly heard procedure called Caesarean Section. Only when most people hear that phrase it means that a child, who was wanted, has been born through the abdomen of the mother. When this phrase is used in the same sentence as abortion it has a sad meaning. The abortive caesarean section consists of the opening of the abdomen of the mother and the splicing of the umbilical cord while the baby is still inside the womb. The baby suffocates and dies . Often the baby is removed still alive and left in the sink or the corner to die of neglect and exposure.

The fifth and most controversial form of late term abortion is called Intact Dilation and Extraction (intact D&X) by the medical community and partial- birth abortion by the government and the citizens who are fighting it. This procedure is usually performed in the third trimester, and occasionally in the late second. Guided by an ultrasound the doctor grabs the baby's leg and pulls it into breech (or feet first) position. Then, the doctor delivers the child completely except for its head. Next, scissors are inserted into the base of the head and spread apart to enlarge the hole. The scissors are then removed and replaced by a suction tube, which sucks out the baby's brain causing the skull to collapse. The dead baby is the removed completely and discarded (Mikesell, D. 1999). These discarded babies are then used later on for a number of medical uses.

Some terrible things have happened in the rooms of abortion hospitals, many that have been publicized and many that were not. Lies have been told to women about the size and viability of the child.

"Sometimes we lied. A girl might ask what her baby was like at a certain point in the pregnancy: was it a baby yet? Even as early as 12 weeks a baby is totally formed, he has fingerprints, turns his head, fans his toes, feels pain. But we would say, "its's not a baby yet. It's just tissue, like a clot." (Mikesell, D.1998.2).

A particularly descriptive narrative was written by an abortionist about the procedure known as Intact Dilation and Evacuation. He said that sometimes Mayo scissors were necessary at some point, to dismember and decapitate the babies because they were so far formed (Mikesell, D.1998). The cruelty the babies undergo is disturbing, even to the doctors and nurses who perform or assist in the abortions. Joyce Craig, director of a Brooklyn Planned Parenthood told about doctors performing hysterotomies (a procedure involving the removal of the child through the abdomen) and laying the babies on medical tables where they squirmed until they died (Mikesell, D. 1998). Many abortion providers are coming to realize that what they are doing is infanticide also. Dr. Bernard Nathanson states that he has no doubt that human life starts at conception. He says this after presiding over 60, 000 deaths (Mikesell, D. 1998). After realizing that they are active participants in murder many abortion workers have some serious psychological problems. For instance, Kirsten Breedlove, a former clinic worker remembers, "You would look in the buckets and see arms and legs." She went on to say that she still has nightmares similar to bloody, gore filled "B" rated horror movies. (Mikesell, D. 1998 9). The difference between her nightmares and the movies was that this was very real. However, Kirsten Breedlove is not the only worker that has been affected in this way. Norma McCorvey, another worker, was shocked with what she discovered when she looked into a freezer at the clinic where she worked. It was full of frozen fetuses. (Mike Sell, D. 1998, 9).

When Dr. Frederic D. Frigoletto said, "no one is perfect, and neither camp is perfect and one can always find potential or real abuses with any physician" (Gianelli, D. 1997b). He was right. In the opinion of pro-life extremists it is better to kill the killers than through fight through government. But is seems the government is the way to fight and win. Although all abortions will probably never be made illegal, the medical United States and the government are all working together to find a practical solution to the problem of late term abortions. "At the American Medical Association (AMA) meeting in June of 1996, the American Medical Association took a high road position on physician assisted suicide," said Dr. Sprang, and Evanston, Illinois OB/GYN. "I urge the association to take a similar position on a procedure that is offensive," (American Medical Association, 1996). A member of Physicians Ad-Hoc Coalition for Truth (PHACT), Dr. Cook believes that the American Medical Association is "taking initiative" by discovering and recording the facts about late term abortions (American Medical Association, 1996). "Recent polls show that 71 percent of American's pubic support efforts to ban partial-birth abortions" (Gianelli, D. 1996). In early 1996 President Clinton vetoed a partial-birth abortion ban that congress had passed. When the bill was first introduced to congress in June 1995 a fist full of physicians claimed that it was a harmful procedure that was "never medically necessary." An even smaller group of physicians defended the procedure, mostly it was comprised of those physicians that did not perform the technique. (Gianelli, D. 1996). It seemed that the physicians that defended the technique were defending the procedure in an effort to make sure that it was illegal in case a situation arises that it might prove useful to them or a patient, they wanted to keep their options open. A good question to be asked here is why they defend it, if they have never done it first hand, and have seen the results of the procedure afterwards.

"In a recent co-op piece in the Wall Street Journal, the group (PHACT ) said that contrary to what abortion activists would have us believe, partial-birth abortion is never medically indicated to protect a womans health or her fertility. In fact, the opposite is true. The procedure can pose a significant and immediate threat and to both the womans health and her fertility" (Gianelli, D. 1996 2).

It is best said by Henry Hyde, "for the first time the focus is on the baby and not the mother." (Gianelli, D. 1996, 3). Tennessee representative and cardiac surgeon said that most doctors are frightened to pass the bill because the governments invasion would destroy the sanctity of the doctor-patient relationship, but in his opinion, any doctor who has performed a late term abortion has already violated that bond. (Gianelli, D. 1997 a). According to American Medical News 1996, at least 35 states have introduced bills to ban late term abortions, 8 states have bans in place, 3 had passed the house but were waiting for last action, 12 of the state governments had bills pending, and 10 of the states had bills die or be defeated.

What causes a woman to want to wait 12 to 24 weeks before aborting a baby? According to a poll done by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 71 percent of the women who have a l;ate term abortion, reported that they had miss guessed gestational age of the baby, or did not know they were pregnant. 48 percent had troubles arranging the abortion in the first trimester with a willing doctor. A total of 33 percent were fearful to tell partners and/or parent. 24 percent had difficulty coming to the decision to have the procedure done (Gans Epner, Jonas, Seckinger 1998).

In Missouri on February 19, 1999 the State House heard a debate on a Late term abortion ban bill that stated "anyone who intentionally kills, a partially born living infant is guilty of infanticide, or the murder of someone under the age of one" (Bell, B. 1999). The truth of this matter is something that needs to be done. Roe versus Wade only states that first trimester abortions are legal. After the first trimester, the states have to decide individually, (Readers Digest, 1994). Which leaves laws and their interpretations very unclear on what to do and what is constitutional.

Late term abortions has to be stopped. When a fetus is far enough developed that it has to be ripped apart to be killed or is able to be partially delivered then it is a human child. Right now the government is trying to find a ban that doesn't invade too deeply into the doctor- patient relationship, yet still saves the children. Medical community only wants enough information to prove or disprove the procedure. Very little about late term abortions is known statistically speaking, because there is no way to know who performs the procedure and does not. Late term abortions are immoral. They are the murder of a defenseless human, the slaughter of innocence in itself. When the fetus is partially delivered, it is a kicking, feeling, human baby, not a growth or a clot on the inside of the uterus. At that point of development it can not be called a clot or a growth, but only a human being.

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References

American Medical Association (AMA). (1996). AMA vows to bring science into late term abortion debate. (American Medical Association House of Delegates). American Medical News, 39, 1.

Bell, Bill Jr. (1999, February 19). House will hear debate on banning controversial abortion procedure; Panel advances bill on Partial-Birth Abortions. St.Louis Post Dispatch. Retrieved April 2, 1999 from Microsoft Internet Explorer:

http://web.lexis-nexis.com/universe/docum...5a3&_md5=e2dd213228edd77323alc33ee87b5

Concentric Media. (1998). The fragile promise of choice. Discussion group. Retrieved Feb. 24, 1999, from Microsoft Internet Explorer: http://www.concentric.org/outreach/discuss.html.

Gianelli, Diane M. (1996). Doctors enter political fray over late term abortions. American Medical News,39, 1.

Gianelli, Diane M.(1997a). AMA board backs modified bill to ban late term abortion method. (American Medical Association). American Medical News, 40, 3.

Gianelli, Diane M. (1997b). AMA report: Third trimester abortions 'rarely necessary' (American Medical Association). American Medical News, 40, 1.

Gianelli, Diane M. (1997c). State doctors weigh in on late term abortion debate. (State Medical Association). American Medical News,40, 5.

Gianelli, Diane M. (1997d). Medicine adds to debate on late term abortion: ACOG draws fire for saying procedure "may" be best option for some (American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists). American Medical News, 40, 3.

Gans Epner, Janet E., Jonas, Harry S., Seckinger, Daniel L. (1998). Late term abortion. Journal of the American Medical Association, 280, 224.

Mikesell, D. (1998). The Reality of Abortion. Retrieved: Feb.24, 1999, Microsoft Internet Explorer: http://users1.ee.net/dmikesell/plpc.htm.

Reader's Digest. (1994). Legal problem solver: A quick and easy guide to the law. United States: Reader's Digest.