A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH

BY CHOICE


Submitted by John Lightner



The fetal development segment of this article was obtained from the web site for BabyCenter.Com, based in San Francisco, California.

The information regarding the abortion procedure was taken from a medical textbook, Abortion Practice by Warren M. Hern, M.D., M.P.H. Dr. Hern owns and operates an abortion clinic in Boulder, Colorado. He has introduced a number of innovations in abortion practice and is one of the founders of the National Abortion Federation. He emphasizes the performance of abortion through 24 weeks gestation.

EARLY (First Trimester) ABORTION

ABORTIONIST Hern: "The principal motion of the suction handle while in the uterus is rotation. The physician will usually first notice a quantity of amniotic fluid followed by placenta and fetal parts which may be more or less identifiable. As this is happening the patient is advised that she will hear a loud sucking sound. Vital signs should be observed regularly, and a Doppler inaudible to the patient should be used at intervals to determine the presence or absence of fetal heart tones."



15 WEEKS

BabyCenter: Crown to rump, your baby is between 4 and 4 1/2 inches long. About now, the fetus can grasp, squint, frown, and grimace.

ABORTIONIST Hern: "Once the tissue is grasped, the forceps is withdrawn gently with a rotating motion to permit easier passage. If any doubt is entertained about the kind of tissue being grasped, the rotation should occur before withdrawal. If uterine wall or viscera is between the forceps blades, it will not rotate easily and the patient will experience discomfort. The tissue can be released and damage minimized. The forceps should be applied with extreme caution to avoid the latter calamity. The probability of difficulty in removing the 1calvaria [human skull] is greater at 15 weeks than at any other time. Continuing to search or attempt to grasp without success is increasingly dangerous with time, because the uterine wall is more and more likely to become the tissue that is grasped. As the calvaria [human skull] is grasped, a sensation that it is collapsing is almost always accompanied by the extrusion of white 2cerebral material...This calvaria sign [white cerebral material] may not be much in evidence with the 13-week procedure, but it is more likely to appear at 14 weeks."



16 WEEKS TO 17 WEEKS

BabyCenter: Legs are growing longer than the arms now, fingernails are fully formed, and all the joints and limbs can move. Now would be a good time to find out the sex of your baby by ultrasound, since external genitals are developed enough so the technician can clearly tell the difference between boy and girl. In or out of the womb, babies are playful creatures. Yours may already have discovered his first toy-the umbilical cord-which he'll enjoy pulling and grabbing.

ABORTIONIST Hern: "At 16 to 17 weeks, fetal tissue is much more easily identifiable with the forceps and in some ways is easier to grasp and remove than in earlier gestations. The calvaria [human skull] is about the size of a Ping-Pong ball and usually can be grasped readily. Collapsing it gives a definite sensation, which can be identified simultaneously with the appearance of the calvaria sign." [white cerebral material]



20 WEEKS

BabyCenter: A protective coating begins to form on your baby's skin. If you have an ultrasound, you might see him sucking his thumb. Your baby will be 8 to 10 inches long and weigh almost a pound.

ABORTIONIST Hern: "20 Weeks' Fetal Age. Grasping and collapsing the calvaria are often difficult. Stripping the calvaria of soft tissue is sometimes the first step in successful delivery of this part, followed by dislocation of 3parietal bones. Regardless of the amount of dilatation, delivery of the calvaria and pelvis is sometimes difficult."

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21 To 24 WEEKS

BabyCenter: Tiny eyebrows and eyelids are visible. Your baby's lungs are filled with amniotic fluid, and he has started to practice breathing movements. If you talk or sing, he can hear you.

ABORTIONIST Hern: "The procedure changes significantly at 21 weeks because the fetal tissues become much more cohesive and difficult to dismember....The calvaria is no longer the principal problem; it can be collapsed. A long curved Mayo scissors may be necessary to decapitate and dismember the fetus. After the bimanual examination, the physician removes the basin from beneath the patient's perineum and replaces her feet on the pull-out leg support. At this point, I move around the table to face the patient, to inform her that she is no longer pregnant and to reassure her. Many patients are prepared to cry. The aggregate fetal tissue is weighed, then the following fetal parts are measured: foot length, knee-to-heel length, and biparietal diameter. In most cases, the calvaria has been collapsed but is basically intact. It is placed under running water and, as the water fills the cranium, a biparietal measurement is taken by sight with a clear plastic ruler."

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The information above is not that of any pro-life organization. Medical textbooks such as Hern's Abortion Practice did not exist prior to Roe v. Wade. Thus, it is more than probable that recent ultrasound, embryoscopy, and other technology would assist the Supreme Court in understanding that they have engaged our nation in a holocaust of unprecedented magnitude. This holocaust must be stopped, and repented of, if our nation is ever to reach its former greatness.

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