Partial-Birth Abortion Ruling

Today, in a 5-4 vote, the Supreme Court upheld a law banning partial birth abortion (Gonzales v Carhart). Finally, after years of being thwarted by the courts, today is a victory for pre-born life. As I read the Supreme Court decision, I was sickened by the description and acceptance by some people of the procedure described as follows (quoting in Justice Kennedy's majority opinion from the Court's testimony):

" 'At this point, the right-handed surgeon slides the fingers of the left [hand] along the back of the fetus and "hooks" the shoulders of the fetus with the index and ring fingers (palm down).
" 'While maintaining this tension, lifting the cervix and applying traction to the shoulders with the fingers of the left hand, the surgeon takes a pair of blunt curved Metzenbaum scissors in the right hand. He carefully advances the tip, curved down, along the spine and under his middle finger until he feels it contact the base of the skull under the tip of his middle finger.
" '[T]he surgeon then forces the scissors into the base of the skull or into the foramen magnum. Having safely entered the skull, he spreads the scissors to enlarge the opening.
" 'The surgeon removes the scissors and introduces a suction catheter into this hole and evacuates the skull contents. With the catheter still in place, he applies traction to the fetus, removing it completely from the patient.' " H. R. Rep. No. 108-58, p. 3 (2003).

This is an abortion doctor's clinical description. Here is another description from a nurse who witnessed the same method performed on a 26-week fetus and who testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee:

" '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 head right inside the uterus... .
" 'The baby's little fingers were clasping and unclasping, and his little feet were kicking. Then the doctor stuck the scissors in the back of his head, and the baby's arms jerked out, like a startle reaction, like a flinch, like a baby does when he thinks he is going to 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 went completely limp... .
" 'He cut the umbilical cord and delivered the placenta. He threw the baby in a pan, along with the placenta and the instruments he had just used.' "

It is hard to imagine that our culture has accepted partial birth abortion for so long. It is also hard to imagine how people do not consider the aborted babies human lives. Clinton vetoed a ban of the above procedure while in office, and the Supreme Court ruled a similar ban unconstitutional a couple of years ago. But this is a more conservative court - and a more humane one. This ruling shows the power of appointment granted to the President; the addition of Roberts and Alito by Bush have swung the Court, at least temporarily, to a more pro-life bent. And it shows why the presidential race and the congressional races of 2008 are so critical as well. More than likely, the next president will nominate judges to replace Justice Stevens and Justice Ginsburg - the two most liberal judges on the bench. And the next Congress will have to approve or deny those appointments.

There is still a long way to go. This ban only prohibits the partial-birth of the baby followed by the removal of his or her brain. This ban does not prohibit the following description also described in the Court's ruling:

After sufficient dilation the surgical operation can commence. The woman is placed under general anesthesia or conscious sedation. The doctor, often guided by ultrasound, inserts grasping forceps through the woman's cervix and into the uterus to grab the fetus. The doctor grips a fetal part with the forceps and pulls it back through the cervix and vagina, continuing to pull even after meeting resistance from the cervix. The friction causes the fetus to tear apart. For example, a leg might be ripped off the fetus as it is pulled through the cervix and out of the woman. The process of evacuating the fetus piece by piece continues until it has been completely removed. A doctor may make 10 to 15 passes with the forceps to evacuate the fetus in its entirety, though sometimes removal is completed with fewer passes. Once the fetus has been evacuated, the placenta and any remaining fetal material are suctioned or scraped out of the uterus. The doctor examines the different parts to ensure the entire fetal body has been removed.

The procedure just described is still permitted. Moreover, 90 percent of the 1.3 million abortions a year take place in the first trimester, unaffected by the ban.

Today's ruling is a victory for the unborn, albeit a small one. But with continued pressure and education, hopefully this will mark the beginning of a major movement to cease the killing of 1,300,000 lives each year in this country.