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Partial birth abortion (view source)
Revision as of 19:23, October 23, 2010
, 19:23, October 23, 2010Added portion about Haskell stumbling onto the method as he did late D&E.
As one practitioner noted, "Classic D&E is accomplished by dismembering the fetus inside the uterus with instruments and removing the pieces through an adequately dilated cervix."<ref name="Haskell"/> He also noted that at and beyond 20 weeks of gestation, most abortionists found the fetal tissues too tough to easily tear apart. Thus, methods were developed to kill the fetus in-utero a day or more prior to dismemberment, so as to allow autolysis or softening of the fetal tissues. This method, however, also carried a risk of infection.<ref name="Haskell"/>
As one practitioner noted, "Classic D&E is accomplished by dismembering the fetus inside the uterus with instruments and removing the pieces through an adequately dilated cervix."<ref name="Haskell"/> He also noted that at and beyond 20 weeks of gestation, most abortionists found the fetal tissues too tough to easily tear apart. Thus, methods were developed to kill the fetus in-utero a day or more prior to dismemberment, so as to allow autolysis or softening of the fetal tissues. This method, however, also carried a risk of infection.<ref name="Haskell"/>
California abortionist James McMahon is credited with resolving the difficulty, around 1983, by developing what he called "intrauterine cranial decompression", involving extensive dilation of the cervix to extract the fetus feet-first, then kill it just before completing the delivery by removing the brain with a suction cannula.<ref>Tumulty, K.: "[http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1613078,00.html The Abortion Ruling: An Isolated Win?]" ''Time'', April 20, 2007</ref> The technique gained popularity after Ohio abortionist Martin Haskell presented a paper about his refinement of the technique, which he was now calling dilation and extraction or D&X, at the 1992 [[National Abortion Federation]] (NAF) Risk Management Seminar in Dallas, Texas.<ref>[http://www.nrlc.org/abortion/pba/pbafact1.html Johnson, D.: "What is partial-birth abortion, and what is the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act (HR 1833)?", National Right to Life]</ref>
[[California]] [[abortionist]] [[James McMahon]] is credited with resolving the difficulty, around 1983, by developing what he called "intrauterine cranial decompression", involving extensive dilation of the cervix to extract the fetus feet-first, then kill it just before completing the delivery by removing the [[brain]] with a suction cannula.<ref>Tumulty, K.: "[http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1613078,00.html The Abortion Ruling: An Isolated Win?]" ''Time'', April 20, 2007</ref> Ohio abortionist Martin Haskell indicated that he stumbled across the method himself independently of McMahon:
<blockquote>
<nowiki>[D&E abortions up to 24 weeks]</nowiki> were very tough. Sometimes it was a 45-minute operation. I noticed that some of the later D&Es were very, very easy. So I asked myself why can't they all happen this way. You see the easy ones would have a foot length presentation, you'd reach up and grab the foot of the fetus, pull the fetus down and the head would hang up and then you would collapse the head and take it out. It was easy. At first, I would reach around trying to identify a lower extremity blindly with the tip of my instrument. I'd get it right about 30-50 percent of the time. Then I said, "Well gee, if I just put the ultrasound up there I could see it all and I wouldn't have to feel around for it." I did that and sure enough, I found it 99 percent of the time. Kind of serendipity.<ref>"http://www.nrlc.org/abortion/fetal_pain/Haskell%20Cincinnati%20Medicine.pdf", ''Cincinnati Medicine'', Fall 1993</ref>
</blockquote>
The technique gained popularity after Haskell presented a paper about his refinement of the technique, which he was now calling dilation and extraction or D&X, at the 1992 [[National Abortion Federation]] (NAF) Risk Management Seminar in Dallas, Texas.<ref>[http://www.nrlc.org/abortion/pba/pbafact1.html Johnson, D.: "What is partial-birth abortion, and what is the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act (HR 1833)?", National Right to Life]</ref>
==Controversy==
==Controversy==
National Right to Life seized upon the line drawings, along with Haskell's presentation paper, and with state affiliates launched a multi-front legislative battle against what they dubbed "partial-birth abortion" or PBA.<ref name="dead"/>
National Right to Life seized upon the line drawings, along with Haskell's presentation paper, and with state affiliates launched a multi-front legislative battle against what they dubbed "partial-birth abortion" or PBA.<ref name="dead"/>
==Reasons for Partial Birth Abortions==
Though abortion advocates typically present all [[late term abortion | late-term abortion]] as being performed for "hard cases" (severe fetal abnormalities or serious health problems in the mother), late abortions, including PBA, are typically performed for the same reasons as earlier abortions.
==Legislation==
==Legislation==