Partial-Birth Abortion What the nurse saw... In September 1993, Brenda Pratt Shafer, a registered nurse with thirteen years of experience, was assigned by her nursing agency to an abortion clinic. Since Nurse Shafer considered herself "very pro-choice," she didn't think this assignment would be a problem. She was wrong. This is what Nurse Shafer saw: "I stood at the doctor's side and watched him perform a partial-birth abortion on a woman who was six months pregnant. The baby's heartbeat was clearly visible on the ultrasound screen. The doctor delivered the baby's body and arms, everything but his little head. The baby's body was moving. His little fingers were clasping together. He was kicking his feet. The doctor took a pair of scissors and inserted them into the back of the baby's head, and the baby's arms jerked out in a flinch, a startle reaction, like a baby does when he thinks that he might fall. Then the doctor opened the scissors up. Then he stuck the high-powered suction tube into the hole and sucked the baby's brains out. Now the baby was completely limp. I never went back to the clinic. But I am still haunted by the face of that little boy. It was the most perfect, angelic face I have ever seen." The partial-birth abortion procedure is used after 20 (4.5 months) of pregnancy-- often to six months, seven months, and even later. The difference between partial-birth abortion and homicide is a mere three inches.
2) The baby's leg is then pulled into the birth canal. 3) The abortionist delivers the baby's entire body except for the head. 4) The abortionist jams scissors into the baby's skull. The scissors are then opened to enlarge the hole. 5) The suction tube is inserted. The child's brains are sucked out,
causing the skull to collapse. The dead baby is then removed. Important Facts about Partial-Birth Abortions... The "Health" Exception- The bill passed by Congress allows partial birth abortion to be performed if necessary to save a woman's life. But pro-abortion groups and President Clinton also demand an exception for "health" abortions-- a huge loophole that would allow partial-birth abortions for "emotional well-being" or "depression." Anesthesia's Effect on the Baby- The anesthesia given to the mother has little or no effect on the baby, according to congressional testimony by the nation's leading anesthesiologists, including the president of the American Society of Anesthesiologists. Medical experts testified that babies at this age can experience great pain. Reasons for Partial-Borth Abortion- Dr. Martin Haskell, who has performed over 1000 partial-birth abortions, said that he performs them "routinely" for non-medical reasons and that 80% are "purely elective." Medical experts testified before congressional committees that it is never necessary to kill a baby that has been almost entirely delivered to preserve the life or health of a mother. "The abortion issue poisons our national political life. Catholics cannot in good conscience avoid its centrality in their political decision making. Abortion is no more a single issue than was slavery. It is instead a defining issue, one which shapes the future of our nation. The present legal policy of abortion on demand, which permits even the killing of partially born infants, weakens the social contract that has kept this country together. To cooperate willingly in evil is morally wrong and our present laws make us all at least passive cooperators in the crime of abortion."-Cardinal Francis George
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