The So-Called “Dilation and Extraction” Procedure

Thank you Governor Kathleen Blanco.

You are a democrat and you know when to stand up for what is wrong.  You didn’t let the special interest groups control what is right for your state.  Again Thank you!  From The Daily Advertiser:

Louisiana became the first state to outlaw a late-term abortion procedure on Friday, when Gov. Kathleen Blanco approved legislation allowing doctors to be prosecuted for performing the surgery.

Lawmakers in other states are expected to consider similar bans.

Planned Parenthood officials argued against the Louisiana ban in legislative committee hearings, but received a chilly response from lawmakers. Only a handful of legislators voted against either bill.

Blanco has also signed legislation requiring that all women seeking an abortion be notified that fetuses can feel pain by 20 weeks gestation, and doctors who perform the procedure to discuss the availability of painkillers for fetuses.

This is yet more politicians who will stand up to Planned Parenthood and tell them that the health of women is more important than their pocket books. 

I do have to point out some errors in the article though.  These are lies that have been said so many times that people are actually believing them.  Here we go:

(1.) Anti-abortion activists call the procedure “partial-birth abortion”; surgeons and abortion rights activists call it “dilation and extraction.”
(2.) Opponents say doctors don’t agree on whether fetuses can feel pain at 20 weeks.
(3.) when failure to perform it would endanger the mother’s life.

Number 1 - It is not only anti-abortionist that use this terminology.  “Partial-birth abortion” (PBA) is a legal term in legal dictionaries.  This term has been clearly defined in court.  It’s legal term means “abortion in which the person performing the abortion partially vaginally delivers a living fetus before killing the fetus and completing the delivery.”  The reason the procedure was given such a generic legal term was because there was not a consistent medical term used for this procedure at the time the attempt to ban this started.  This is clearly noted in the “Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act of 1997” 105th Congress, House of representatives.  This means that “interpretation” cannot be used to disqualify this ban.  In 1997 there were 3 terms used for this procedure.  Dr. Martin Haskell and Dr. James McMahon were the first surgeons to use this procedure and they did not even agree on what to call it.  Haskell used “Dilation and Extraction” to describe the procedure and McMahon flipped back and forth using “Intact Dilation and Evacuation” Or ”Intrauterine Cranial Decompression”.   At the time of the ban in 1997 there was no medical definition for any of these terms either.  Hopefully you have followed all of that.  PBA is the legal term used to cover ALL the types of this kind of abortion no matter what a surgeon calls it. 

Number 2 - Fetal pain was clearly established in “the Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act of 1997.  

 ** In his testimony before the Constitution Subcommittee on June 15, 1995, Professor Robert White, Director of the Division of Neurosurgery and Brain Research Laboratory at Case Western Reserve School of Medicine, stated, `The fetus within this time frame of gestation, 20 weeks and beyond, is fully capable of experiencing pain.’After specifically analyzing the partial-birth abortion procedure, Dr. White concluded, `Without question, all of this is a dreadfully painful experience for any infant subjected to such a surgical procedure.’

 **Dr. David Birnbach, the president of the Society for Obstetric Anesthesia and Perinatology…Having administered anesthesia for fetal surgery, I know that on occasion we need to administer anesthesia directly to the fetus because even at these early ages the fetus moves away from the pain of the stimulation.

Number 3 - No one can tell you when PBA would be necessary to save the life of the mother.  Considering the procedure takes 3 - 5 days and the baby IS delivered, there is no reason for this procedure to be done for this reason.  Let’s just go back to the PBA Ban Act 1997 -

“This claim is roundly refuted by four specialists in OB/GYN and fetal medicine representing PHACT (Physicians’ Ad Hoc Coalition for Truth), a group of over 500 doctors, mostly specialists in OB/GYN, maternal and fetal medicine, and pediatrics, including former Surgeon General C. Everett Koop: “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 to both the pregnant woman’s health and fertility.”