[Vision2020] Is it Infanticide Vs. Abortion? (was: CatholicMajority On Supreme Court)

[Andreas Schou]

On 4/25/07, Tony <tonytime at clearwire.net> wrote:
> Andreas, is it your contention then that intact dilation and extraction is
> performed on non-viable babies in EVERY case?  If so, why has such
> information never been divulged before now by the proponents of this
> "procedure?"  One suspects that there is, once again, more to the story than
> those on your side of this debate would have the public believe.

It's my contention that it constitutes 0.2% of abortions, that it is
performed as an emergency surgery rather than elective abortion, and
that it is performed on non-viable fetuses.

Late-term abortions constitute 1.4% of all abortions performed in the
United States. Intact D&E constitutes 15% of those.
Back-of-the-envelope calculations tell me that that means that intact
D&E is used in roughly 0.2% of all abortion procedures in the United
States.

Kennedy's opinion is predicated on the fact that intact D&E is
medically equivalent to the interuterine dismemberment and suction of
the miscellaneous parts; that is, there is no circumstance under which
an intact D&E would save the life of the mother when other equivalent
processes could also be performed. This logic is designed specifically
to limit the ruling's scope.

Notably, Kennedy leaves an opening for specific review of the law when
he specifically mentions that the court would entertain a case
considering that specific issue -- that is, whether a late-term
abortion would be medically necessary for the health or life of the
mother. How Kennedy expects that a challenge would reach the Supreme
Court in the (roughly) 90 days before the case is mooted by the birth
of a child or the death of a fetus is an exercise best left to the
imagination (or alternately sniggered at behind your hand).

> That critical question aside, why are these handicapped infants not simply
> delivered and allowed to expire naturally, if that is indeed their fate,
> rather than being unceremoniously dispatched?

I am not qualified to deliver medical advice, but it is my
understanding that one cannot live without a functioning forebrain.
You, however, have left me somewhat unsure of this understanding.

-- ACS

* If you're interested, this Harpers article is a good overview of the
"partial-birth abortion" pseudo-debate:
http://www.harpers.org/archive/2004/11/0080278

* Yes, it's a blog post. However, it's an ob/gyn med student's
overview of the medical literature on intact D&E, as well as what
exactly was made illegal by the partial-birth abortion law:
http://www.agraphia.net/partial-birth-abortion-v-intact-dilation-extraction/

* This is a personal account of someone who did have an intact D&E due
to (extremely severe) spinal bifida. It might explain why someone
might want to do it:
http://lifestyle.msn.com/mindbodyandsoul/womenintheworld/articlemc.aspx?cp-documentid=4595719