Intact Dilation and Evacuation
 
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The partial-birth abortion procedure is used after 20 weeks (4 1/2
months) of pregnancy -- often to six months, seven months, and even later.
Critics have characterized Partial Birth Abortion as an unnecessarily
brutal act that no one should tolerate. "You wouldn't treat an animal this
way," Judiciary Committee Chairman Henry J. Hyde, R-Ill., one of the House's
foremost abortion opponents, said during floor debate. Charles T. Canady,
R-Fla., the bill's chief sponsor, said the procedure was perilously close to
homicide.
"The only difference between the partial birth abortion and
homicide is a mere three inches," said Rep. Charles T. Canady, R-Fla. "Most
partial-birth abortions are performed on the healthy children of healthy
mothers."
Partial-Birth
Abortion Ban Act
On December 7, 1995, the United States Senate
passed the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban
Act which would end partial-birth abortions by a margin of 54-44. House
members voted 2-to-1 in favor of the ban, 288-139 [Republicans 215-15;
Democrats 73-123; Independents 0-1]. When it reached the desk of President Bill
Clinton on April 10, 1996, he vetoed the Act, thereby allowing the brutal
procedure to continue with no restrictions.
In spite of testimony by
medical experts to the contrary, Clinton justified his action with the claim
that this procedure affects only hundreds of people and was necessary to
protect the life and health of the mother - even though the abortionists
themselves admitted its use was purely elective.
Once again on Oct. 8,
1997, the House passed a Partial Birth Abortion Ban by a veto-proof vote of
296-132. The Senate passed the bill in May (64-36), three votes less than the
two-thirds majority that would be needed to override Clinton's veto. On Oct.
10, 1997, President Clinton again signed the veto papers, this time privately
and without fanfare in the Oval Office.
Shame on Bill Clinton for vetoing the Partial-Birth Abortion
Ban and shame on the Congressmen and Senators who have supported this brutal
and inhuman act.
My heart is broken when I think that the American public would elect leaders who would legalize, condone and encourage this brutal murder of babies only seconds before delievery. Their next step is to legalize snuffing the life of an unwanted or imperfect baby moments or days after delivery.
"Although they know God's righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them." [Romans 1:32]
Ban Passed into
Law
On November 5, 2003, with Bill Clinton out of the way, President
Bush signed the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act (S. 3) into law. The ban was
later upheld as to its constitutionality by the U.S. Supreme Court, in the case
of Gonzales v. Carhart.
The "Health"
Exception
The bill passed by Congress allows a partial-birth
abortion to be performed if necessary to save a women's life. But pro-abortion
groups and President Clinton also demand an exception for "health" abortions -
a huge loophole that would allow partial-birth abortions for "emotional
well-being" or "depression."
The late Dr. James McMahon, who performed
abortions on all of the women who Bill Clinton paraded before the public when
he vetoed the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban testified that only 9% of the 2,000
partial-birth abortions he performed involved "maternal health" [the most
common being "depression"]. Another 56% were for
"fetal flaws," ranging from trivial to grave; the most common being Down
Syndrome. Over one-third involved neither fetal
nor maternal indications, however trivial - in other words,
"elective".
Dr. Martin Haskell, who has
performed over 1,000 partial-birth abortions, said that he performs them
"routinely" for non-medical reasons, and that 80% are "purely elective."
Medical experts testified before congressional committees that it is never
necessary to kill a baby that has been allmost entirely delivered to preserve
the life or health of the mother.
The American Medical Association's
board of trustees released a report in May 1997, saying there are no situations
in which "intact dilation and extraction [known as partial-birth abortion] is
the only appropriate procedure to induce abortion."
"Lied through my
teeth"
In Feb. 1997, Ron Fitzsimmons, a leader of the
terrorist pro-abortion movement and
Executive Director of America's National Coalition of Abortion Providers,
admitted he had "lied through my teeth" in the ABC "Nightline" program in
November 1995 about both the number of and the main reason for partial birth
abortions. He now says there are far more partial birth abortions performed
than was previously acknowledged, and on healthy women bearing healthy fetuses.
It was Fitzsimmons' statistics which claimed only about 500 such abortions,
which were cited by President Clinton when he vetoed the ban on partial birth
abortions.
Surprise! Surprise! It turns out there are thousands of
partial birth abortions performed every year (as many as 3,000 to 4,000
according to Fitzsimmons) - almost 1,500 in one New Jersey abortion clinic
alone!
Anesthesia's Effect
on the Baby
Medical experts testified that babies at this age can
experience great pain. The anesthesia given to the mother has little or no
effect on the baby, according to congressional testimony by the nation's
leading anesthesiologists, including the president of the American Society of
Anesthesiologists.
Partial-Birth
Abortion is an Affront to Everything this Nation Stands For.
President Clinton, working hand-in-glove with pro-abortion Senate Minority
Leader Tom Daschle, tried to fool the American people by proposing a phony ban.
This is playing politics with unborn children and is designed to provide
political cover for politicians and not save babies lives.
How far have
these Congressmen and Senators slid down that "slippery
slope" of abortion toward infanticide? Is it right to kill a fully
delivered child? Consider the exchange between Sen. Rick Santorum (R., Pa.) and
Senator Russ Feingold (D., Wis.) during the Senate debate on whether to
override Clinton's veto of the ban on partial birth abortions.
Sen. Santorum: "If that baby were delivered breech style and everything was delivered except for the head, and for some reason that that baby's head would slip out - that the baby was completely delivered - would it then still be up to the doctor and the mother to decide?"
Sen. Feingold: "The standard of saying it has to be a determination, by a doctor, of health of the mother, is a sufficient standard that would apply to that situation."
Sen. Santorum: "That doesn't answer the question. Let's assume the head is accidentally delivered. Would you allow the doctor to kill the baby?"
Senator Feingold: "That is a question that should be answered by a doctor, and by the woman who received the advice from the doctor."
