Is it possible that partial birth abortion can be even worse than previously described? Apparently so! At the Nebraska hearing on the constitutionality of the ban on partial birth abortion (PBA), an abortionist revealed that 99% of the time, some of the baby is pulled apart during the process of pulling the body out first, possibly a foot or a leg. Then, with only the head undelivered, the baby’s skull is pierced so the brains can be sucked out and the head crushed. This new information shows that the baby experiences terrible pain for a longer period of time, not just at the time of death.

Lawsuits against the PBA ban were also filed in New York by National Abortion Federation and in San Francisco by Planned Parenthood. Based on their testimony at the court hearings, doctors who testified about PBA have demonstrated just how hardened they are to the most inhumane actions used to destroy human life. At the New York hearing, in response to Judge Casey’s questions, Dr. Timothy Johnson described how abortionists suck out the brains and crush the skull using “instruments thick enough and heavy enough that you can actually grasp and crush with those instruments as if you were picking up salad.” He admitted that they do not tell patients these facts, but rather call it “decompression of the skull or reducing the contents of the skull.” Does that sound more acceptable to you?

Judge Casey also asked Dr. Johnson, “Does the fetus feel pain?” He responded, “I don’t know.” “Does the fetus having pain ever cross your mind?” “No.” Abortionists have totally dehumanized the baby they are killing!

Back at the Nebraska court hearing, a doctor testifying on behalf of the Bush administration to defend the PBA ban described how unborn children have the ability to feel intense pain during the abortion procedure. Dr. Kanwaljeet Anand, a pediatrician at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, said he believes unborn children suffer “severe and excruciating” pain because “the fetus is conscious” during the abortion procedure. The baby shows increased heart rate, blood flow and hormone levels responding to pain during the abortion, Dr. Anand said. “The physiological responses have been very clearly studied,” he said. “The fetus cannot talk ... so this is the best evidence we can get.” Will this testimony make any difference to Dr. Johnson?

On June 1st, U.S. District Judge Phyllis Hamilton ruled in the San Francisco case that the Federal ban on partial birth abortion is unconstitutional.  Her ruling applies to the 850 Planned Parenthood locations nationwide and to the abortionists they use.  This crass act of judicial activism ignores the evidence presented that amply showed why the law is constitutional.   Decisions in the New York and Nebraska cases are still pending, but the fate of the PBA ban will likely be decided by the U.S. Supreme Court.