Copyright 2000 Plain Dealer Publishing Co.
The
Plain Dealer
May 1, 2000 Monday, FINAL / ALL
SECTION: EDITORIAL; Pg. 8B
LENGTH: 672 words
HEADLINE:
THE MYTHS ABOUT PARTIAL-BIRTH ABORTION
BODY:
Recently, the U.S. Supreme Court heard
arguments to determine the constitutionality of a Nebraska law banning
partial-birth abortion. If the court upholds the law, which is
highly unlikely considering the extremist abortion positions of the current
court, many Americans are under the illusion that such a ban will stop some
abortions. This is nothing more than a pipe dream.
The truth is a ban on
any type of abortion procedure, whether it be partial birth or dilatation and
curettage will not save lives. Why? Because abortionists will find new ways to
kill. The Nebraska law only bans a procedure that kills the fetus during a live
birth. Abortionists know that and simply will use a different method to kill.
For example, the notorious late term abortionist in Wichita, Kansas, Dr.
George Tiller, has circumvented a similar Kansas law by simply killing the baby
prior to delivery. In a procedure that would make Joseph Mengele proud, Tiller,
guided by ultrasound, locates the baby's heart and then uses a long hypodermic
needle to inject the drug Digoxyn into his heart. This induces a heart attack,
resulting in what Tiller calls "fetal demise." Tiller then proceeds to deliver a
dead baby, hence bypassing the ban. How creative.
Nevertheless, the
debate over a ban on partial-birth abortion has been a huge public-relations
victory for the pro-life movement. According to the most definitive surveys, 70
percent of Americans oppose the procedure. For the first time since Roe vs.
Wade, Americans have come face to face with the true horror of abortion.
Therefore, pushing for a ban is worthwhile in helping to change public opinion.
However, it is nothing more than wishful thinking to hold that a prohibition on
partial-birth abortion would save lives.
MARK HARRINGTON
Westerville
Harrington is executive director of the Center for
Bio-Ethical Reform, Midwest.
For more than two years, pro-abortion
forces have been spreading many myths regarding partial-birth abortions.
However, much more of the truth is now coming to light.
Partial-birth
abortions involve babies from 4 1/2 months of gestation up to even the ninth
month. The procedure consists of delivering the live baby feet first so that all
but the head is outside the mother's womb. The abortionist then stabs surgical
scissors into the base of the baby's head and suctions out its brain by a small
tube. The abortionist then completes delivery of the now dead baby. The
Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act would make it a crime to perform this procedure
except to save the mother's life.
The myth that these kinds of abortions
are performed only in dire circumstances to save the life of the mother are
completely false. Ron Fitzsimmons, the executive director of the National
Coalition of Abortion Providers, admitted that, in the vast majority of cases,
the partial-birth abortion procedure is performed on a healthy mother with a
healthy fetus that is 20 or more weeks along.
Another myth is that these
abortions are extremely rare - only about 500 cases per year. This claim has
been proved to be false. Ruth Padawer of the Record newspaper of Bergen County,
N.J., reported that 1,500 partial-birth abortions were performed in one year at
one local clinic alone.
Another myth is this: The underdeveloped fetus
does not feel pain from the partial-birth abortion. This is completely false
according to Professor Robert White, director of the Division of Neurosurgery
and Brain Research Laboratory at Case Western Reserve School of Medicine. He
told the House Constitution subcommittee, "The fetus within this time frame of
gestation, 20 weeks and beyond, is fully capable of experiencing pain."
So what do you think? Would you want your wife, daughter, girlfriend or
sister to undergo this procedure? Doesn't the answer seem obvious? Outlawing
this particular abortion procedure does not, in any way, diminish a woman's
right to a legal, elective abortion. Why can't we care about both the baby and
the mother?
SHIRLEY SCHEUERMANN
Cleveland
COLUMN: LETTERS
LOAD-DATE: May
2, 2000 
