I was talking to a liberal friend of mine and the topic turned to abortion. He, being a pro-choice advocate, said he thought a woman had a right to an abortion. I asked him about partial birth abortions. He said again a woman has a right to choose. I then asked him to describe a partial birth abortion. He had no answer.

I asked myself later, “How many more people out there support the idea in ignorance?” So, I wrote this article about it so those who parrot the pro-abortion talking points can try to defend this atrocity with full understanding of where they stand. I will skip the history and terminology and focus mainly on the procedure itself.

Partial birth abortions, also known as intact dilation and extraction, are late term abortions. There is debate on what constitutes “late term,” but it is generally assumed to be after the 20th week, or five months. In this procedure, the female’s cervix is fully dilated. Then the abortionist locates the baby by using an ultrasound machine. Forceps are then inserted into the female and used to grab the baby’s leg. The baby is then pulled from the uterus, leaving only the head still inside the woman’s body. A pair of scissors is then jammed into the base of the baby’s head and opened, creating access to the brain. A vacuum tube is then inserted into the hole and the brain is removed, causing the head to collapse upon itself.

A few things to note concerning this procedure that I feel are important if one is going to have an informed opinion.

Dr. Martin Haskell first used the term dilation and extraction. He:

admitted in 1992 of having ‘routinely’ and ‘easily’ performed over 1,000 partial-birth abortions himself, and that 80% of them are for purely elective [whimsical] reasons, such a depression or vomiting of the mother.

According to Dr. Haskell, in a tape recorded interview with the American Medical Associations official journal, American Medical news, “…the majority of fetuses aborted this way (partial birth abortion) are alive until the end of the procedure.”

Brenda Pratt Shafer is a registered nurse who worked for Dr. Martin Haskell. She was pro-choice when she took this job and thought she could handle working there. She witnessed Dr. Haskell perform partial birth abortions. Ms. Shafer testified to The U.S. House of Representative subcommittee on the Constitution on March 21, 1996. She said the following:

Dr. Haskell brought the ultrasound in and hooked it up so that he could see the baby. On the ultrasound screen, I could see the heart beating. As Dr. Haskell watched the baby on the ultrasound screen, the baby’s heartbeat was clearly visible on the ultrasound screen.

Dr. Haskell went in with forceps and grabbed the baby’s legs and pulled them down into the birth canal. Then 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 little 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 that he might 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.

Dr. James McMahon performed thousands of partial birth abortions. He submitted to Congress a detailed breakdown of over 2,000 partial birth abortions. Only about 175 cases, or 9%, involved health concerns in the mother, and most of those were depression.

The Los Angles Times reported in it August 28, 1996 edition that some of the medical reasons for this abortion were cleft palates, cystic hygroma, and cystic fibrosis. The conditions present in the mother’s that dictated abortion were “depression, chicken pox, diabetes, vomiting …”

The left is still fighting against the ban on partial birth abortion. It is important to understand what they are fighting for so you do not lend your support for something with which you disagree. It is also important to understand what you are fighting against, to be more motivated to defend the voiceless, unborn children. There is no reason for this practice to again become legal. It is nothing less than infanticide.

(Originally posted on Newsvine)

The notion of abortion has already remained controversial. To a great surprise, few people adopt the idea in their minds when they are already deciding upon baby girl names. While some others just adore the idea of becoming parents and get themselves engaged in shopping of toddler bedding even before the baby arrives. Some mothers pay quite a big deal of attention to the diaper bags to ensure complete hygiene while others are anxious about finding the most enjoyable baby shower games for their tiny angels.