NOTE - Significant portions of this web page are out of date; it
is retained here for archival purposes for use by professionals
only.
"No doctor, zero, would kill a healthy nearly full term baby."
I have a special interest in so-called partial-birth abortion
because so much of my life is about this basic human problem--how
do you get the baby out? As difficult as it can sometimes be
to birth/deliver a baby with a much-larger-than-average head with
a diameter of five (5) inches, how would you even begin to get a
baby out when the head has a diameter of twenty (20) inches
without butchering the woman? (A basketball is less than 10
inches in diameter.) You could leave the baby inside. Maybe
the woman's uterus would rupture, maybe not. Obviously, the baby
would die at some point. Then it would start decomposing,
which would really endanger the woman's life. Or you could
develop the relatively humane procedure of Dilation and
Extraction. It's hard to believe that you could use the word
humane with D&X, but it is relatively humane. If you
can think of any alternatives that are truly more humane to
either the mother or the baby, the medical world would really
like to hear about it.
fetalhydrocephalus.com
- This site is dedicated to helping parents and families of
children with congenital hydrocephalus. In addition to the usual
medical definitions of what hydrocephalus is, we focus on how to
take care of these children at home. We provide information on
many aspects of hydrocephalus . . . This website was created
by a Mom with the help of doctors, therapists and parents of
children with hydrocephalus to provide a place where parents can
find information on the care that is needed for these wonderful
children. Everything is explained in plain English, in terms that
the average person can understand without a medical background.
Late term abortions seem to be a big factor in conservative voters. The things you hear about it sound shocking and extreme. Well, it sounds extreme because it is. Let me share with you some facts about late term/third trimester abortion.
First, it is
important to know that there are only four doctors
who openly perform third trimester terminations.
Only four. Dr Carhart, Dr Hern, Dr Sella, and Dr
Robinson. If an abortion is needed beyond the
point of viability, specifically in the third
trimester, it is up to the discretion of one of
these 4 doctors, and you must travel to them (only
7 states allow this). To even visit with them is
not cheap. It isn't used as a birth control or
"oops, changed my mind" option.
The point of
viability is 24 weeks. That is when a fetus is
considered viable. That means, if for some
unfortunate circumstance, a woman had to deliver
at that time, the chances of the baby surviving
are great. It would be difficult, with a long NICU
stay, but it would be more favorable towards
living. That being standard, to terminate a
pregnancy after that point is seen as taboo. If
the fetus can survive outside the womb, then why
are you terminating it?
That's where we go back to the first statement. There are only four doctors in this nation that will perform the procedure. They do not do it all willy nilly. No doctor, even these four, will terminate a healthy pregnancy just because. IT. DOES. NOT. HAPPEN.
88.7% of all abortions happen in the first trimester, or the first 12 weeks. Of that, the majority is at or before 6 weeks. 8.5% of all abortions happen in the second trimester, with the majority at the 13-14 week mark, and withering to a small less than 1.3% after 21 weeks. After 21 weeks, the number is 2%. Our continues to stagger down, with the vast majority at 21-22 weeks, down to virtually none, <1%, after 24 weeks.
Of that 1%, it dwindles even less and less significantly after 24 weeks. And by then, it isn't really by choice. As I started earlier, it seems extreme because it is. It is a major decision made by the woman and her medical advisors.
Almost all 24+
week abortions are wanted pregnancies. Women and
families who wanted the baby, who've prepared for
a baby, who've named or connected with the baby.
Then they get a diagnosis. The pregnancy isn't
healthy.the baby won't survive in utero to term.
The baby won't survive delivery. The baby has
severe developmental abnormalities. The baby's
brain didn't develop. The baby has a fatal
diagnosis. The baby would not live very long after
birth and would be a painful and short life.
Occasionally, the mother has a diagnosis where
continuing the pregnancy would likely result in
the death of the mother, but mostly, it's the
baby, that while past the "point of viability" in
gestational age, isn't actually viable. These
pregnancies and losses are wanted and mourned.
"Okay but what if a woman decided at 34-36+ weeks
just to have an abortion?" Assuming you're talking
about a healthy pregnancy, the doctor wouldn't
terminate. At that point, the baby would just be
delivered. If the mother didn't want it, the
living baby would be placed as a ward of the state
and adopted out. No doctor, zero, would kill a
healthy nearly full term baby.
The conditions for a late term abortion to occur
would have to be extreme. Recreation abortion past
viability is not a thing. You can "what if..." it
all you want, but it is not a thing. The what ifs
aren't humored, because they literally do not
happen.
21% of all
pregnancies, excluding miscarriages, end in
abortion. 1 in 5. The chances are, you know
someone who has had one. They're often silent, and
your attacks let them know they cannot trust you.
But of that 21%, they're almost all in the first
trimester and before 6 weeks.
Let me give you links if you're unsure. Let me find you resources. Let me recommend you watch 'After Tiller' (it's on Netflix). Let me support you if you're scared about your choice.
If you have a question, I'll gently educate you. Just comment. If you want sources, I'll provide them. If you want to refute my statements, be civil and provide credible sources.
I want to end the stigma about abortion. Especially the shenanigans about late term abortion. Please, look into this.
A blog,
so not citing as a source, but a great read.
Partial-Birth
Abortion Ban Act of 2003
After
Tiller, the must watch documentary
According to Dr. William F. Harrison, a diplomate of the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology writing in the Arkansas _Times_ a weekly newspaper, "approximately 1 in 2000 fetuses develop hydrocephalus while in the womb." Usually not discovered until LATE in the second trimester, "it is not unusual for the fetal head to be as large as 50 centimeters (nearly 20 inches) in diameter and may contain ... close to two gallons ... of cerebrospinal fluid." (The average *adult* skull is about 7 to 8" in diameter.)
Studies show that most elective abortions occur in the first trimester. Second or third trimester abortions are usually because of birth defects or danger to the mother.
Dr. Harrison says the partial birth and the "draining" of the fetus' skull is actually drawing off of this fluid from the brain area of the fetus. The collapsing of the fetal skull is to allow the removal without the brutal rupturing of a woman's uterine passage or necessitating a classic cesarean section that poses its own dangers to a woman and any future pregnancies. The fetus with severe hydrocephalus cannot live and we wish someone would let people like Ralph Reed, Orin Hatch, Pat Robertson, and Pope John Paul II know that they are condemning women to death for no reason - no reason except their damned puny male egos.
Approximately 500 women face this procedure each year. Mild to
moderate hydrocephalus can be sometimes be treated in utero and
the fetus saved, and some very mild cases can be delivered and
treated after birth. Those which have advanced or severe
hydrocephalus cannot. Without the "partial birth" abortions, their
births can easily kill their mothers with no chance of fetal
survival.
For those women who have discovered catastrophic problems with their pregnancies and have decided to terminate the pregnancy rather than risk death due their own medical condition or otherwise tragic result in carrying a pregnancy to term . . . there is some good information at the web pages of the Boulder Abortion Clinic. "Our purpose is to provide the safest possible abortion care and termination of pregnancies for fetal anomalies or medical indications. We provide this care for women in a confidential, humane, and dignified outpatient setting giving the maximum emotional and social support."