Page 3 — Partial-Birth Abortion Stands Trial

On November 5, President Bush signed a law banning partial-birth abortion.

Immediately, Planned Parenthood, the National Abortion Federation, and local abortionists filed suit against the law in California, Nebraska and New York. Federal courts heard testimony in these cases.

The establishment media ignored the truth that emerged: the undeniable humanity of the babies, the brutality of the killings.

Here are telling excerpts from the testimony in these cases.

Seeing the Heart Beat
Question: And when you begin the evacuation, is the fetus ever alive?

Answer: Yes.

Question: How do you know that?

Answer: Because I do many of my procedures especially at 16 weeks under an ultrasound guidance, so I will see a heartbeat.

Question: Do you pay attention to that while you are doing the abortion?

Answer: Not particularly. I just notice sometimes.

Babies Born Alive
Answer: . . .And, so, initially we were giving Digoxin two days before D&E.

Question: And did you ever change that procedure, that time schedule?

Answer: We did. What started happening was we had an unfortunate number of women who were spontaneously going into labor and delivering at hospitals sort of all over the Bay Area, and it was distressing to everyone.

Question: And when during induction does fetal demise occur; do you know?

Answer: I don't know. It really depends on gestational age, and sometimes the fetus is born alive.

Saving Face
Question: Doctor, you testified earlier that sometimes parents want an intact fetus for blessing or burial. Have you ever had the parent express that desire where you had compressed the head of the fetus to complete the delivery?

Answer: Yes.

Question: Was anything done in those instances, doctor, to improve the appearance of the fetus' head after decompression?

Answer: Yes.

Question: What was done?

Answer: The fetus was-just like a newborn-it was dressed and kind of had a little hat placed on it so that only the face was visible. . . .

Question: You have seen the fetus's legs move before crushing the head, haven't you?

Answer: I have seen that before compressing/decompressing the head.

Death is the Objective
Question: Because if the fetus were close to 24 weeks, and you were performing a transvaginal surgical abortion you would be concerned about delivering the fetus entirely intact because that might result in a live baby that may survive, correct?

Answer: You said I was performing an abortion, so since the objective of the abortion is to not have a live fetus, then that would be correct.

Question: In your opinion, if you were performing a surgical abortion at 23 or 24 weeks and the cervix was so dilated that the head could pass without compression, you would do whatever you needed to do in order to make sure that the live baby was not delivered, wouldn't you?

Answer: Whatever I needed, meaning whatever surgical procedures I needed to do as part of the procedure? Yes. Then, the answer would be: Yes.

Question: And one step you would take to avoid delivery of a live baby would to be to deliver or hold the fetus's head on the internal side of the cervical "os" in order to collapse the skull; is that right?

Answer: Yes, because the objective of my procedure is to perform an abortion.

Question: And that would ensure that you did not deliver a live baby?

Answer: Correct.

Small Coffins
Answer: Because it is the back of the skull that collapsed, since this is not disfiguring, and the face, for instance, is intact. Several of my patients have wished to hold the fetus after the procedure and have expressed gratitude that they were able to do so. . . . We have arrangements to permit burial of the fetus if the patients want. . . . Because the hospital also has small coffins present, both for stillbirths or for fetuses after a termination, and in the case of our D&E patients we actually have little hats available so we could in fact cover the back of the head where the incision had been made.

Warmers, Wraps and Mothers' Arms
Question: What do you do under those circumstances when you have delivered a fetus that is alive in the course of an induction termination?

Answer: The very first thing we do is to assess the viability of the fetus. By that, we perform a very rapid assessment of whether we think this fetus is of the gestational age where resuscitation is appropriate. If there is any question of in our minds . . . . we have a full-excuse me-a 24-hour in-house [neonatologist] whom we contact who does an immediate assessment and then would perform whatever resuscitative measures are necessary on behalf of the baby. Assuming, since we usually have very, very good data about gestational age and know that these are nonviable fetuses, assuming that that is not the case, we would then provide comfort and care to the baby. By that, we would place the baby under a radiant warmer to keep the baby warm. We might wrap the baby. Then depending on what the mother wishes to do, allow the mother to hold the baby at this point and simply [wait] for nature to take its course . . . .

Answer: I'm sorry, can I just-you said after induction abortion in the second trimester? Am I correct?
Question: Yes. Doctor.

Answer: Yes, I have.

Question: And you have observed signs of life in the fetus, didn't you?

Answer: That is correct.

Question: You have seen spontaneous respiratory activity, right?

Answer: Yes.

Question: Heartbeat?

Answer: Yes.

Question: Spontaneous movements?

Answer: Yes.

Details Not Relevant
Question: Do you tell her [the mother] that you are going to then, ultimately, suck the brain out of the skull?

Answer: In all of our D&Es the head is collapsed or crushed and the brains are definitely out of the skull but those are-

Question: Do you tell them that?

Answer: Those are details that would be distressing to my patients and would not-information about that is not directly relevant to their safety.