In fact, partial birth abortions, which chemically dilate the cervix, can endanger the future fertility of women who choose them. No medical authorities have provided testimony that the procedure is ever medically necessary for the sake of the mother. Why then did Dr. Martin Haskell originate the procedure? The answer appears to be that D and E abortions, the other method for terminating an 18-26 week pregnancy, is difficult for doctors to perform in their offices. A D and E involves dismembering the fetus in utero and then pulling it out piece by piece. By the time the fetus is 20 or so weeks old, he or she becomes difficult to cut. Therefore the "intact" evacuation -- pulling the baby out by the feet, plunging scissors into the skull, vacuuming out the brain and pulling the collapsed skull through the vagina -- is preferred. Brenda Pratt Shafer, a nurse who was strongly pro-choice before witnessing a partial-birth abortion, described her horror at seeing the partially delivered baby squirming and opening and closing his fists before the doctor finished him off.
Abortion advocates have strenuously fought this legislation as they have other mild protections for the unborn like the "Born Alive Infants Protection Act," which specified only that if a child happened to survive an abortion, he or she would enjoy full rights as a human being. They do this because they are sure that each new abortion restriction is a staging ground for the final assault on Roe v. Wade.
I wish that were true. I'd love to see Roe overturned and abortion limited as the states see fit. Sadly, this bill is valuable as a symbol but little more. It symbolizes discomfort with the most brutal face of abortion. But the other forms of second trimester abortions are equally ghastly, and the law does not (the advocates' arguments to the contrary notwithstanding) touch them. There is no question that this represents a political victory for pro-life forces. Whether it was a substantive achievement is open to doubt.