The medical profession has made it clear that partial birth abortion is NEVER medically necessary to save the life of the Mother.
In an interview published in the August 19 edition of American Medical News, former Surgeon General C. Everett Koop said, "I believe that Mr. Clinton was misled by his medical advisors on what is fact and what is fiction in reference to late-term abortions. Because in no way can I twist my mind to see that the late-term abortions as described-- you know, partial birth, and then destruction of the unborn child before the head is born-- is a medical necessity for the mother. It certainly can't be a necessity for the baby."
"There are absolutely no obsetrical situations...which require a partially delivered human fetus to be destroyed to preserve the life or health of the mother."
Testimony of Pamela Smith, MD in U.S. Senate Hearing Report 104-260 (Testimony of Nov. 17, 1995) p. 82.
Even the leading authority on late-term abortion in the United States says that the procedure is never necessary to preserve a woman's health.
Dr. Warren Hern, in American Medical News, Nov. 20, 1995 p.3.
Medical experts say it does the opposite. Forecefully dilating a woman's cervix for three days and turning a baby in utero to a breech position can make it more difficult to carry a subsequent baby to term
Dr. Warren Hern, in American Medical News, Nov. 20, 1995 p.3.
The American Medical Association's board of trustees released a report in May 1997, saying there are no situations in which "intact dilation and extraction [known as partial-birth abortion] is the only appropriate procedure to induce abortion."
The Physicians' Ad Hoc Coalition for Truth (PHACT) -- a group of over 500 physician-specialists (mostly in obstetrics, perinatology, and related disciplines) -- has spoken out to dispute claims that some women need partial-birth abortions to avoid serous physical injury. PHACT says: "We, and many other doctors across the United States, regularly treat women whose unborn children suffer these and other serious conditions. Never is the partial-birth procedure medically indicated, rather, such infants are regularly and safely delivered, with no threat to the mother's health of fertility." |
