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abortion
essentials >
"Abortion Essentials." By
James D. Agresti. Just Facts,
September 24, 2008. Revised 1/24/09.
http://justfacts.com/abortion.essentials.asp
(This page contains
essential facts about the issue of abortion.
For a shorter list of basic facts,
click here. For
comprehensive and scholarly details,
click here.)
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One of the major
battlegrounds for this issue concerns
terminology. In keeping with our
Standards of Credibility, the
language used here is explanatory and
precise. Hence, expressions such as
"pro-life" and "pro-choice" are replaced by
words that articulate specific positions.
Perhaps the largest point
of contention involving terminology is the
label applied to what or who is being
aborted. Those who think abortion should be
generally illegal often use the terms
"unborn child" and "unborn baby." According
to Webster's College Dictionary and
Black's Medical Dictionary, the word
"child" can apply prior to birth,[1]
[2]
but both of these sources employ the word
"baby" only from the point of birth onwards.[3]
[4]
Those who think abortion
should be generally legal often use the word
"fetus," a clinical term derived from a
Latin word meaning "offspring" or "newly
delivered."
[5]
As explained in Dorland's Illustrated
Medical Dictionary and other medical
texts, the words "fetus" and "fetal" are
only applicable from nine weeks after
fertilization until birth.[6]
[7]
[8]
[9]
Yet, numerous major news organizations have
misapplied these terms to both before and
after this period.[10]
[11]
[12]
[13]
[14]
[15]
Furthermore, journalism guidelines disparage
the use of medical jargon,[16]
[17]
[18]
but journalists selectively employ it in
their coverage of this issue. Despite
widespread usage of "fetus," the media
commonly employs the word "mother"
to refer to a pregnant woman and rarely, if
ever, the more specific and clinical term
"gravida."
[19]
[20]
In accord with the common
journalism standard to "never use … a
scientific word or a jargon word if you can
think of an everyday English equivalent,"
[21]
the term utilized by Just Facts to describe
the object of an abortion is "preborn
human." This conveys reality in everyday
language and is consistent with medical
usage. For example, the embryology
textbook, Before We Are Born - Essentials
of Embryology and Birth Defects, states:
|
The zygote and
early embryo are living human
organisms.[22] |
Similarly, another embryology
textbook bears the title Human Life
Before Birth and phrases such as "human
in utero" and "human females ... in utero"
appear in creditable medical texts.[23]
[24]
[25]
It would also be scientifically
inconsistent to assert that a child born at
24 weeks after fertilization
is a human, while one in womb at 37 weeks is
not.
Note that unless otherwise
stated, the word "abortion" is used here in
the sense of an induced abortion; not a
spontaneous one, which is also called a
miscarriage.[26]
* The following are facts about
human development.
Fertilization:
Fertilization normally
takes place within one day of intercourse,
but can occur up to six days later.[27]
[28]
At fertilization, the genetic composition of
a preborn human is formed.[29]
This genetic information determines gender,
eye color, hair color, facial features, and
influences characteristics such as
intelligence and personality.[30]
3 Weeks after
Fertilization:
The eyes and spinal cord
are visible and the developing brain has two
lobes.[31]
[32]
4 Weeks after
Fertilization:
The heart is beating and a
circulatory system is in place.[33]
The portion of the brain associated with
consciousness and internal organs such as
the lungs are beginning to develop and can
be identified.[34]
7 Weeks after
Fertilization:
Muscles and nerves begin
working together. When the upper lip is
tickled, the arms move backwards.[35]
The portion of the brain associated with
consciousness has divided into hemispheres.[36]

9 Weeks after
Fertilization:
More than 90% of the body
structures found in a full-grown human are
present. The medical classification changes
from an embryo to a fetus. This dividing
line was chosen by embryologists because
from this point forward, most development
involves growth in existing body structures
instead of the formation of new ones.[38]
[39]
The preborn human moves body parts without
any outside stimulation.[40]
10 Weeks after
Fertilization:
All parts of the brain and
spinal cord are formed. The heart pumps
blood to every part of the body.[41]
The whole body is sensitive to touch except
for portions of the head. The preborn human
makes facial expressions.[42]
11 Weeks after
Fertilization:

12 Weeks after
Fertilization:
Electrical signals from the
nervous system are measurable. After an
abortion, efforts to suckle will sometimes
be observed.[44]
[45]
13 Weeks after
Fertilization:
Ultrasound Video
[46] Windows Media Player
Real Player
14 Weeks after
Fertilization:
The preborn human makes
coordinated movements of the arms and legs.[47]
16 Weeks after
Fertilization:
The preborn human makes eye
movements.[48]

18 Weeks after
Fertilization:
The portion of the brain
responsible for functions such as reasoning
and memory has the same number of nerve
cells as a full-grown adult.[50]
[51]
Ultrasound Video
[52] Windows Media Player
Real Player
20 Weeks after
Fertilization:
The preborn human sleeps,
awakes and can hear sounds.[53]

Ultrasound Video (Heart)
[55] Windows Media Player
Real Player
Up through approximately
this point in time, according to the Supreme
Court's rulings in Roe v. Wade and Planned
Parenthood v. Casey, a pregnant woman can
abort at will. (More details in the section
on
Constitution and Law.)
24 Weeks after
Fertilization:
The blink-startle reflex
and taste buds are functional. The preborn
human will swallow more amniotic fluid if a
sweetener is added to it.[56]
[57]
The grip is strong enough to hold onto an
object that is moving up and down.[58]
If born and given specialized care, the
survival rate is more than 80%.[59]
28 Weeks after
Fertilization:
Premature infants born at
this time are more sensitive to pain than
infants who are born at 38 weeks, and
infants who are born at 38 weeks are more
sensitive to pain than infants at 3-12
months after birth.[60]
[61]
If born and given
specialized care, the survival rate is more
than 95%.[62]
32 Weeks after
Fertilization:

(Premature infant – 3 days after birth)
38 Weeks after
Fertilization:
Average point in time when
humans are born.[63]
At any point prior to
birth, according to the Supreme Court's
rulings in Roe v. Wade, Doe v. Bolton, and
Planned Parenthood v. Casey, a pregnant
woman can abort to preserve her "health."
One example from Roe v. Wade of what may be
considered harmful to a mother's health is
the work of caring for a child. (More
details in the section on
Constitution and Law.)
* The 2008 Democratic Party
Platform states that abortion should be
generally legal, supports the Supreme Court
ruling in Roe v. Wade, and supports the use
of taxpayer funding to perform abortions.[64]
* The Republican Party
Platform states that abortion should be
generally illegal and supports a
Constitutional Amendment that would assure
preborn humans the right to life. It opposes
"using public revenues to promote or perform
abortion."
[65]
* Since 1989, several
Democrats including Jim Oberstar of
Minnesota have sponsored at least 11
resolutions proposing a Constitutional
Amendment that would guarantee preborn
humans the right to life, all of them
containing an exception to protect the life
of the mother.[66]
* Since 1989, several
Republicans including Ann Emerson of
Missouri have sponsored at least 23
resolutions proposing a Constitutional
Amendment that would guarantee preborn
humans the right to life, all of them
containing an exception to protect the life
of the mother. Six of
these resolutions also include exceptions
for cases of rape and incest.[67]
* The National Right to
Life Political Action Committee has endorsed
John McCain for president and stated that it
"strongly opposes Barack Obama."
[68]
* The National Right to
Life Committee has praised Sarah Palin,
described her candidacy as thrill[ing], and
disapproved of Joe Biden.[69]
Sarah Palin is a member of Feminists for
Life,[70]
an organization "dedicated to systemically
eliminating the root causes that drive women
to abortion…"
[71]
* The Political Action
Committee of NARAL Pro-Choice America
(formerly the National Abortion Rights
Action League) has endorsed Barack Obama for
President and given his voting record a 100%
rating for the years 2005-2007.[72]
It has given John McCain's voting record a
0% rating for the years 2002-2007.[73]
* NARAL has stated that
they have "have a longstanding relationship"
with Joe Biden "that is open, positive, and
constructive…"
[74]
For the past five years, NARAL has scored
Biden's voting record as follows: 75%, 100%,
100%, 100%, 36%.[75]
NARAL has described Sarah Palin's candidacy
as "especially troublesome."
[76]
* In interviews conducted
in August 2008, John McCain and Barack Obama
were asked, "At what point does a baby get
human rights?"
Barack Obama responded in
part:
|
I think that
whether you are looking at it
from a theological perspective
or a scientific perspective,
answering that question with
specificity, you know, is above
my pay grade.[77]
[78] |
John McCain responded in
part:
|
At the moment
of conception.[79] |
* In January 2008, the
following message from John McCain was read
at a "March for Life" in Washington, D.C.:
|
I pledge to
you to be a loyal and unswerving
friend of the right-to-life
movement.
[80] |
* Seven months later,
McCain stated that he would not necessarily
rule out selecting a running mate who
generally supports legalized abortion.[81]
* In April 2007, John
McCain told ABC News that "he still wants to
change the GOP's abortion platform to
explicitly recognize exceptions for rape,
incest, and the life of the mother."
[82]
* In response to a 1998
questionnaire that asked if he supported the
"complete reversal of Roe vs. Wade," John
McCain answered "Yes."
[83]
[84]
* One year afterwards John
McCain stated:
|
I'd love to see
a point where [Roe v. Wade] is
irrelevant, and could be
repealed because abortion is no
longer necessary. But certainly
in the short term, or even the
long term, I would not support
repeal of Roe vs. Wade, which
would then force X number of
women in America to [undergo]
illegal and dangerous
operations.[85] |
* A few days later he
issued a clarifying statement:
|
I have always
believed in the importance of
the repeal of Roe vs. Wade, and
as president, I would work
toward its repeal. . . . But
that . . . must take place in
conjunction with a sustained
effort to reduce the number of
abortions performed in America.[86] |
* John McCain's 2008
presidential campaign web site states:
|
John McCain
believes Roe v. Wade is a flawed
decision that must be
overturned…, returning the
abortion question to the
individual states. … Once the
question is returned to the
states, … faith-based,
community, and neighborhood
organizations ... can help build
the consensus necessary to end
abortion at the state level.[87] |
* Barack Obama and Hillary
Clinton have voiced support for Roe v. Wade
and stated that this would be reflected in
their appointments to the Supreme Court.[88]
[89]
[90]
They have also stated that they support a
ban on late term abortions, but only with an
exception for the "health" of the mother.[91]
[92]
* In a July 2008 interview,
Obama was asked to clarify his position on
late-term abortions and stated:
|
I think it's
entirely appropriate for states
to restrict or even prohibit
late-term abortions as long as
there is a strict, well-defined
exception for the health of the
mother. Now, I don't think that
mental distress qualifies as the
health of the mother. I think it
has to be a serious physical
issue that arises in pregnancy,
where there are real,
significant problems to the
mother carrying that child to
term.[93] |
* A few days later, a
reporter asked for clarification of these
remarks and Obama responded that late-term
abortion bans must have an exception for
"serious clinical mental health diseases,"
but this does not mean that "if a woman just
doesn't feel good then that is an exception.
That's never been the case." He also stated:
|
It is not just
a matter of feeling blue. I
don't think that's how
pro-choice folks have
interpreted it. I don't think
that's how the courts have
interpreted it and I think
that's important to emphasize
and understand.[94] |
* The Roe v. Wade verdict
provides several examples of what may
constitute a risk the health of the mother.
These include the "stigma of unwed
motherhood" and the "distress" "associated
with the unwanted child." Roe v. Wade and
Doe v. Bolton, which were issued by the
Supreme Court on the same day with the order
that they "are to be read together," mandate
that abortion be legal up until the point of
birth if any one physician willing to
perform an abortion decides it is necessary
to preserve a mother's health.[95]
[96]
(More details in the section on
Constitution and Law.)
* Speaking before a Planned
Parenthood national conference in July 2007,
Barack Obama stated: "I put Roe at the
center of my lesson plan on reproductive
freedom when I taught Constitutional Law. …
On this fundamental issue, I will not yield
and Planned Parenthood will not yield."
[97]
[98]
When asked what he do to "ensure access to
abortion" and make certain his judicial
nominees are "true to the core tenets of Roe
v. Wade," he stated:
|
Well, the
first thing I'd do as President
is sign the Freedom of Choice
Act. That's the first thing that
I'd do.[99] |
* The Freedom of Choice Act
was introduced in the U.S. Senate in April
2007 by 13 Democrats including Barbara Boxer
(California), Frank Lautenberg (New Jersey)
and Max Baucus (Montana).[100]
One month later, Barack Obama signed on as a
cosponsor.[101]
Its stated objective is to "protect,
consistent with Roe v. Wade, a woman's
freedom to choose to bear a child or
terminate a pregnancy…" It would invalidate
"every Federal, State, and local statute,
ordinance, regulation, administrative order,
decision, policy, practice" that interferes
with the termination of any "pregnancy prior
to viability" and any pregnancy "after
viability where termination is necessary to
protect the life or health of the woman."
[102]
* In May 2005, Howard Dean,
chairman of the Democratic Party stated:
|
We'd like to
make abortion rare. You know
that abortions have gone up 25
percent since George Bush was
president? … There are not many
of us who want to see the
abortion rate continue to go up
as it has under President Bush.[103] |
* According to data from
the Guttmacher Institute, an organization
whose "Guiding Principles" includes support
for legalized abortion,[104]
the total number of abortions, the number of
abortions per women of reproductive age, and
the number of abortions per pregnancy each
declined every year between 2001 (when Bush
took office) and 2005 (the last year for
which numbers are available). The total
declines of this period are as follows:
- Reported Abortions: 6%
- Abortions per Women of Reproductive
Age: 7%
- Abortions per Pregnancy: 8%
[105]
* In June 2008, Howard Dean
stated that the Democratic Party "believes
that we ought to significantly reduce the
number of abortions in this country." A
reporter asked Dean how he could reconcile
this assertion with the party's support for
taxpayer funding of abortions. Dean replied
it is "total nonsense" that public funding
of abortions increases the abortion rate.[106]
* According to study
published by the Guttmacher Institute:
|
A 1994-1995…
survey of abortion patients
found that in states where
Medicaid pays for abortions,
women covered by Medicaid have
an abortion rate 3.9 times that
of women who are not covered,
while in states that do not
permit Medicaid funding for
abortions, Medicaid recipients
are only 1.6 times as likely as
nonrecipients to have abortions.[107] |
* Barack Obama's
presidential campaign web site states that
"Obama will make available a new national
health plan to all Americans."
[108] This plan includes taxpayer
funding of abortions.[109]
* The President of the
United States appoints judges to the Supreme
Court. These appointments must be approved
by a majority of the Senate.[110]
Senate rules allow for a "filibuster," in
which a vote to approve a judge can be
blocked unless 60 of the Senate's 100
members agree to let it take place.[111]
[112]
* Once seated, federal
judges serve for life unless they
voluntarily resign or are removed through
impeachment, which requires a majority vote
of the House of Representatives and
two-thirds of the Senate.[113]
* For implications relating
to the appointment and approval of judges,
see the section on
Constitution and Law.
* The American Civil
Liberties Union (ACLU) supports the use of
taxpayer funding to perform abortions. In
making its case for this position, the ACLU
website poses the following rhetorical
question:
|
What about
those who are morally or
religiously opposed to abortion? |
And answers:
|
Our tax dollars
fund many programs that
individual people oppose.[114] |
* The ACLU is opposed to
taxpayer funded school choice programs. One
of their arguments for this stance is:
|
School voucher
schemes would force all
taxpayers to support religious
beliefs and practices with which
they may strongly disagree.[115] |
* The website of Planned
Parenthood states:
|
In the two
decades before abortion was
legal in the United States,
nearly one million women went
"underground" each year for
illegal operations. Thousands
died for lack of medical care.[116] |
* No sources are cited for
the statements above. According to the U.S.
Centers for Disease Control, whose death
statistics from legal abortions have been
accepted and used by Planned Parenthood,[117]
[118]
[119] in the year before Roe v.
Wade (1972), there were 39 deaths from
illegal abortions. In the year after Roe v.
Wade (1974), there were 26 deaths from legal
abortions.[120]
* The following three
graphs were constructed to discern an effect
of Roe v. Wade on the collective rate of
legal and illegal abortion-related deaths:

* In 1988, the Centers for
Disease Control (CDC) reported that the
coding system used to classify
pregnancy-related deaths "precludes a
determination of the real causes of maternal
death."
[122] Hence, the graph below was
constructed to show the incidence of all
pregnancy-related deaths.

* In 1988, the CDC reported
that the coding system used to classify
deaths in general is inadequate because only
a single code is assigned to each death, but
"several factors may contribute to a death."
[124] Hence, the graph below was
constructed to show the death rate from all
causes for women of reproductive age.

* A Fact Sheet published by
Planned Parenthood states that
|
the risk of
death associated with childbirth
is about 10 times as high as
that associated with all
abortion (Christiansen &
Collins, 2006).[126] |
* "Christiansen & Collins,
2006" contains no information about the risk
of death associated with abortion or
childbirth. It contains figures for the risk
of death "once a woman has become pregnant"
as compared to the number of live
childbirths in the U.S. These figures are
not broken down to show abortion or
childbirth-related deaths.[127]
* Citing data from the CDC,
a previous version of the same Planned
Parenthood Fact Sheet states that the "risk
of death associated with childbirth is about
10 times as high as that associated with abortion."
[128]
[129]
[130]
* From 1989 through 1992,
the CDC's National Center for Health
Statistics reported zero abortion-related
deaths in the state of Maryland.[131]
[132]
[133]
[134]
* During 1989 in the state
of Maryland:
- Erica Kae Richardson (16 years-old)
was admitted to an emergency room on March 1st
with a punctured uterus from an abortion
carried out earlier that day at a clinic in
Laurel, Maryland. She died shortly after
midnight on March 2nd.[135]
[136]
[137]
[138]
- Paramedics arrived at an abortion
clinic in Suitland, Maryland on July 12th
to find Debra M. Gray (34 years-old) in
cardiac arrest after being administered
anesthesia without the presence of an
anesthesiologist. She was taken to a
hospital and died three days later.[139]
- Paramedics arrived at an abortion
clinic in Suitland, Maryland on September 10th
to find Susanne Renee Logan (32 years-old)
in cardiac arrest with an oxygen mask placed
upside down on her face. It was found that
she had been given anesthesia without the
presence of an anesthesiologist, and when
she reacted to it, was given another drug
not indicated to mitigate the effects of the
anesthesia. The paramedics resuscitated Ms.
Logan, she stayed in a coma for four months,
and was generally paralyzed until her death
in 1992.[140]
[141]
[142]
- Gladys Estanislao, a 28-year-old
college student, was found lifeless on a
bathroom floor 17 days after undergoing an
abortion procedure at a clinic in Bethesda,
Maryland.
Her autopsy revealed that the pregnancy was
not in her womb, but in her fallopian tube,
which caused it to rupture and resulted in
her death.[143]
[144]
[145] This condition, called an ectopic
pregnancy, is screened by a blood test or
ultrasound, has a mortality rate of 1 in
2,000, and is typically diagnosed on the
first visit to a gynecologist.[146]
[147]
[148]
* In 1987, the New York
City Commissioner of Health wrote a letter
to abortion clinics warning them to be
careful about using too much anesthesia. The
letter stated:
|
During the
period between 1981 and 1984,
there were 30 legal
abortion-related deaths in New
York City.[149] |
* For the same time period,
the CDC's Division of Reproductive Health
reported a total of 42 legal
abortion-related deaths in the United
States.[150]
* If both of these numbers
are accurate, it would mean that 71% of the
legal abortion-related deaths in the United
States occurred in one city where about 3%
of the population lived.[151]
* An "Abortion Services"
page on Planned Parenthood's website states:
|
Abortion
DOES NOT …
• Cause
premature birth, birth defects
or low infant birth weight in
future pregnancies
• Increase the
chance of infant death in the
future
[152] |
* A 2007 paper in The
Journal of Reproductive Medicine cites
59 studies that exhibit a statistically
significant association between abortion and
the risk of premature births in subsequent
pregnancies. In five of the largest and more
recent of these studies, all found increases
in premature births before 32 weeks
gestation in women who had an abortion. All
of these studies also found that this risk
escalated when more than one abortion was
performed.[153]
Children born before 32 weeks gestation are
at increased risks for early death, cerebral
palsy, blindness, deafness and other health
complications.[154]
* The website of Planned
Parenthood states:
|
Serious
emotional problems after
abortion are much less likely
than they are after giving
birth.[155] |
* A different page on the
website of Planned Parenthood states:
|
Serious,
long-term emotional problems
after abortion are about as
common as they are after
childbirth.[156]
[157] |
* Another page on the
website of Planned Parenthood states:
|
Beware of
so-called "crisis pregnancy
centers" that are anti-abortion.
… [They] will lie to you about
the medical and emotional
effects of abortion.[158] |
* The country of Finland
has socialized medicine and keeps detailed
health records of its citizens.[159]
A search of these records over the years
1987-1994 found that 1,347 women of
reproductive age (15-49 years old) committed
suicide. A 1996 study of this data found
that women who had an abortion were about
5.9 times more likely to commit suicide in
the year following this event than women who
delivered a child.
* The State of California
pays the costs of childbirths and abortions
for low income women. A study of 173,279
California women who had a state funded
childbirth or abortion in 1989 found that 53
of them committed suicide within eight years
of their childbirth or abortion. A 2002
study of this data found that women who had
an abortion were about 2.5 times more likely
to commit suicide in the eight years
following this event than women who
delivered a child.
* In 2008, the Los Angles
Times reported:
|
Several studies
published in peer-reviewed
medical journals suggest that
women who have had abortions are
more prone to depression or drug
abuse. But the research does not
prove cause and effect, [said
Nada Stotland, president-elect
of the American Psychiatric
Association]. It may be, she
said, that women who have
abortions are more emotionally
unstable in the first place.[162] |
* The California study
cited above controlled for mental disorders
by eliminating those women who had been
treated for a psychiatric problem in the
year prior to their childbirth or abortion.
When this was done, it was found that women
who had an abortion were about 3.3 times
more likely to commit suicide in the eight
years following this event than women who
delivered a child.
* In October 2001, The
Society of Professional Journalists, "the
nation's most broad-based journalism
organization,"
[164] adopted "Diversity
Guidelines" reaffirming "their commitment"
to use "language that is informative and not
inflammatory." These guidelines state that
it is "misleading" to use "word
combinations" such as "Islamic terrorist" or
"Muslim extremist" "because they link whole
religions to criminal activity." The same
document states:
|
When writing
about terrorism, remember to
include white supremacist,
radical anti-abortionists and
other groups with a history of
such activity.[165] |
* In April of 2007 at a
Republican "Unity Dinner" in Iowa, John
McCain stated:
|
… I have a
steadfast and strong advocacy
and voting record in support of
the rights of the unborn.[166] |
* At the same event, Mike
Huckabee stated:
|
I'm not late
in declaring that I believe life
begins at conception and that we
ought to protect human life…
[167] |
* In an article about this
event in the New York Times written by Adam
Nagourney, it is stated that John McCain and
Mike Huckabee "presented themselves as
lifelong opponents of abortion rights." Four
times in this article, candidates are
characterized as opponents of abortion
rights and never as supporters of rights for
the unborn.[168]
* Media phraseology:
|
Phrase:
"opponent(s)
of… |
Number of times phrase was used in |
|
New York Times (1981-current) |
Washington Post
(1987-current) |
Associated Press
(1982-current) |
|
abortion
rights" |
151 |
44 |
61 |
|
gun rights" |
1 |
0 |
1 |
|
property
rights" |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
parental
rights" |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
individual
rights" |
0 |
6 |
1 |
|
states' rights" |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
religious
rights" |
0 |
0 |
0 |
* On the television show
"NOW with Bill Moyers," PBS journalist
Brenda Breslauer stated:
|
The term
"partial birth abortion" was
invented by the anti-abortion
community to describe a
procedure in which a fetus is
partially delivered outside the
womb. Doctors don't even use the
term.[170] |
* The book, English for
Journalists, states that medical
literature is a "common source" of jargon
and:
|
If you write
for a newspaper or general
magazine you should try to
translate jargon into ordinary
English whenever you can.[171] |
* A 2005 house editorial in
the Chicago Tribune uses the medical term
"intact dilation and extraction" to identify
"certain late-term abortions." It does not
contain the term "partial birth" and
provides no description of the procedure.[172]
* The New York Public
Library Writer's Guide to Style and Usage
states:
|
When writing
for a lay audience or the
general public, a writer should
use jargon only when necessary
and define it carefully. Where
plain English serves equally
well, it should be used instead.[173]
[174] |
* Roe v. Wade and its
accompanying ruling, Doe v. Bolton, mandate
that abortion be legal up until the point of
birth if any one physician willing to
perform an abortion decides it is necessary
to preserve a mother's health.[175]
[176]
* In January 2002, the
Gallup polling organization reported:
|
If Roe v.
Wade is presented only as
legalizing abortion in the first
three months, support for the
decision is much higher than if
it is characterized as making
abortion legal throughout
pregnancy or for any reason.[177] |
* Since this time, the
Associated Press, Quinnipiac University, the
Pew Research Center, NBC News, the Wall
Street Journal, and Harris Poll have all
conducted polls in which they characterized
Roe v. Wade as making abortion legal in the
first "three months of pregnancy."
[178]
* In three articles
published by the Associated Press in 2007
and 2008, it is asserted that the United
States "permits abortions within the first
12 weeks of pregnancy."
[179] Media outlets that carried
one or more of these stories include ABC,
CBS, MSNBC, Fox News, Yahoo News, AOL News,
USA Today, Los Angeles Times, Boston Globe,
Washington Post and more than 50 other
local, state, national and international
publications.[180]
* In July 2000, Nina
Totenberg, National Public Radio's "award-winning legal affairs correspondent"
stated:
|
Third-trimester abortions are
banned in every state except to
save the life and the health of
the mother.[181]
[182] |
* In an October 2003 house
editorial, the Washington Post stated that
|
most states
already bar abortions after the
point of viability, unless the
procedure is necessary to
preserve the life or health of
the mother…
[183] |
* None of the news items
cited above mention that "health," as
defined by Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton,
can include circumstances such as the "stigma of unwed motherhood" and the
"distress" "associated with the unwanted
child."
[184]
[185] (More details in the
section on
Constitution and Law.)
* In 1985, the Los Angeles
Times polled 3,165 newspaper reporters and
editors working at 621 newspapers. It found
that approximately 85% were in favor of
abortion being generally legal. The same
poll found that 51% of the general public
were in favor of abortion being generally
legal.[186]
* In December 2001, Hal
Bruno, the former political director of ABC
News, was asked what percentage of people at
ABC News were "pro-choice." He replied:
|
Well, we have a
tremendous number of women that
have come into journalism in the
last 20 years … and most women
tend to be pro-choice.[187] |
* Below are the results of
a Gallup poll done 6 months before the
interview:
|
Statement |
Women Who
Agree |
Men Who
Agree |
|
Abortion should
be legal under any circumstances |
28% |
23% |
|
Abortion should
be legal in most circumstances |
14% |
15% |
|
Abortion should
be legal in only a few
circumstances |
40% |
43% |
|
Abortion should
be illegal in all circumstances |
15% |
16% |
* A Zogby poll done about a
year before the interview asked people if
they agreed with the following statements:
|
Statement |
Women Who
Agree |
Men Who
Agree |
|
Abortion
destroys a human life and is
manslaughter |
51% |
51% |
|
Abortion does
not destroy a life and is not
manslaughter |
33% |
37% |
* In the same interview,
Bruno stated:
|
I'd say a
majority of the people who work
in the news, not just at ABC,
but who work in the news, are
pro-choice. But I think a
majority of the country probably
is pro-choice, too.[190] |
* Four months prior to the
interview, Gallup conducted a poll which
found:
- 46% of Americans consider themselves
to be pro-choice.
- 46% of Americans consider themselves
to be pro-life.[191]
* As of June 2008:
- 24 states have a law in effect that
requires parental consent for a minor to
have an abortion.[192]
- 3 states have a parental consent law
that is blocked by a court order or ruling.[193]
- 11 states have a law in effect that
requires parental notification for a minor
to have an abortion.[194]
- 4 states have a parental notification
law that is blocked by a court order or
ruling.[195]
- 8 states have no laws requiring
parental consent or notification for
abortions.[196]
* In the State of New
Hampshire, it is against the law for anyone
under 18 years of age to get a body piercing
unless their parent or guardian is
physically present when it is performed and
signs a consent form.[197]
* In the State of New
Jersey, it is against the law for anyone
under 18 years of age to get a tattoo or
body piercing without written consent from
their parent or legal guardian.[198]
* In the State of
California, it is against the law for anyone
under 18 years of age to use a tanning
machine without written consent from their
parent or legal guardian.[199]
* In New Hampshire, New
Jersey and California, it is legal for a
girl of any age to get an abortion without
her parent's consent or knowledge.[200]
[201]
[202]
* A 2005 CBS poll found
that 80% of the public was in favor of
"requiring that at least one parent be told
before a girl under 18 years of age could
have an abortion." A 2005 FOX News poll
found 78% support for the same measure and
72% support for requiring minors "to get
permission or consent" from a parent or
guardian before having an abortion.[203]
* On a 2001 vote in the
Illinois Senate for a parental notification
bill, Barack Obama voted "Present."
[204]
[205]
*
Illinois
Senate rules state that "a majority of
those elected" (30 Senators) must vote in
favor of a bill for it to pass. Thus, a vote
of "Present" has the same result as a vote
of "No."
[206]
* With regard to Obama
voting "Present" on this and other
abortion-related bills, Pam Sutherland, the
president and CEO of the Illinois Planned
Parenthood Council stated:
|
We at Planned
Parenthood view those as
leadership votes. We worked with
him specifically on his
strategy. … A "present" vote was
hard to pigeonhole which is
exactly what Obama wanted. What
it did was give cover to
moderate Democrats who wanted to
vote with us but were afraid to
do so. A "present" vote would
protect them. Your senator voted
"present." Most of the
electorate is not going to know
what that means.[207]
[208] |
* In response to a 2004
candidate questionnaire that asked, "Do you
support parental … notification or consent
to obtain an abortion?", Barack Obama's U.S.
Senate campaign answered:
|
Regarding
parental notification, I would
oppose any legislation that does
not include a bypass provision
for minors who have been victims
of, or have reason to fear,
physical or sexual abuse.[209] |
* The 2001 parental
notification bill on which Obama voted
"Present" had bypass provisions for "sexual
abuse," "neglect," "physical abuse," and
cases where notification "would not be in
the best interests of the minor."
[210]
[211]
* In response to a 2007
candidate questionnaire asking if minors
should "be required to seek their parents"
consent before having an abortion, Barack
Obama's presidential campaign did not
explicitly answer the question and stated
that
|
most parental
consent bills that come before
Congress or state legislatures
criminalize adults who attempt
to help a young woman in need
and lack judicial bypass and
other provisions that would
permit exceptions in compelling
cases.[212] |
* Every one of the 35
states with a parental consent or
notification law in effect has a bypass
provision that permits exceptions in various
circumstances such as when notifying a
parent not be in a "minor's best interests."
This is also the case with a Congressional
bill that Obama filibustered.[213]
[214]
* The Democratic Party
Platform makes no explicit reference to
parental consent or notification laws.[215]
The Republican Party Platform supports
parental notification laws and makes no
explicit reference to parental consent laws.[216]
* John
McCain is a cosponsor of a bill to prohibit
transporting minors across state lines to
circumvent state laws that require parental
involvement in a minor's abortion.[217]
*
Sarah Palin supports parental consent
legislation and when Alaska's Supreme Court
struck down such a statute in a 3-2
decision, she backed a constitutional
amendment aimed at restoring it.[218]
[219]
[220]
* A 2000 U.S. Department of
Justice study of crimes reported to law
enforcement agencies in twelve states from
1991-1996, found that the incidence of
forcible rape peaked at the ages of 14 and
15.

* A 1987 survey of U.S.
woman aged 18-22, found that of those who
had intercourse at 15 years of age or
younger, 40% had been forced to have sex
against their will or were raped.[222]
[223]
* Arkansas law requires
written consent of a parent (not a
step-parent) before an abortion is performed
upon a female who is less than 18 years of
age.[224]
In 2006, a 15-year-old Arkansas girl accused
her 41-year-old stepfather of raping her,
getting her pregnant, forcing her to have an
abortion in Illinois (where there is no
parental consent or notification law in
effect), and continuing to rape her
afterwards.[225]
[226]
[227]
[228]
* The girl's claim that she
was taken to an abortion clinic in Granite
City, Illinois was corroborated by a photo
of her stepfather's car at this facility.[229]
He was arrested, charged with a dozen counts
of rape and committed suicide before trial.[230]
[231]
* In 2006, the U.S. House
of Representatives passed a bill that would
have made it illegal to take a minor across
state lines to circumvent state laws that
require parental involvement in a minor's
abortion. It required that abortion
providers in states without parental
involvement laws give at least 24 hours
notice to a parent before performing an
abortion on a minor who resides in another
state. This provision included exceptions
for parental abuse, neglect, and if the
physical health of the minor was endangered.[232]
93% of Republicans voted for it and 71% of
Democrats voted against it. (Click for a record
of how each Representative voted.)
* After being approved by
the House, the bill was sent to the Senate
where it was blocked by a filibuster
conducted by 37 Democrats, 4 Republicans,
and 1 Independent. Participants in the
filibuster included Hillary Clinton, Joe
Biden, Barack Obama, Arlen Specter and
Olympia Snowe. (Click for a record
of how each Senator voted.)
* A sexual relationship
between a 22-year-old man and a 13-year-old
girl is illegal in all 50 states and the
District of Columbia.[233]
All states have laws requiring healthcare
and other workers who interact with children
in a professional capacity to report
suspected cases of child abuse, which in 29
states and the District of Columbia,
explicitly includes a sexual relationship
between a 22-year-old man and a 13-year-old
girl.[234]
* In 2002, Life Dynamics,
an organization dedicated to ending legal
abortion,[235]
phoned more than 800 Planned Parenthood and
National Abortion Federation abortion
clinics and offices. In these calls, a woman
from Life Dynamics told workers at these
facilities that she was 13-years-old, had
been impregnated by her 22-year-old
boyfriend, and wanted to get an abortion to
hide the situation from her parents.[236]
* In more than 90% of the
phone calls, the Planned Parenthood and
National Abortion Federation workers did not
act to report the matter.[237]
* Some workers encouraged
the caller to come in for the abortion and
lie about the age of the person who
impregnated her.[238]
* Some workers told the
caller that they were required to report the
situation, but weren't going to do so.[239]
* In states that have
parental notification laws, some workers
told the caller to find a person who was old
enough to impersonate one of her parents and
have them sign the required paperwork. In
one state that requires a notarized
signature from a parent, a worker told the
caller that the facility had a notary public
who would notarize a fraudulent signature
for her.[240]
* After Life Dynamics
released the recordings, Planned Parenthood
issued the following statement:
|
Planned
Parenthood questions the
reliability of staged tapes of
supposed telephone conversations
surreptitiously prepared by Life
Dynamics, an organization with a
notorious anti-Planned
Parenthood agenda.[241] |
* A Connecticut TV station
(WTIC – Fox 61) scrutinized the recordings
of the phone calls to the abortion clinics
in Connecticut. They found that the dial
tones recorded on the tapes matched the
phone numbers of the facilities, the names
of the people on the tapes matched the names
of the workers at the facilities, and the
content of the conversations matched what
was reported by Life Dynamics.[242]
* In briefs submitted to
the United States Supreme Court regarding a
Minnesota parental consent law,[243]
the American Psychological Association
asserted that the law should be struck down
because
|
the unvarying
and highly significant findings
of numerous scientific studies
indicate that with respect to
the capacity to understand and
reason logically, there is no
qualitative or quantitative
difference between minors in
mid-adolescence, i.e., about
14-15 years of age, and adults.[244] |
* In a brief submitted to
the United States Supreme Court regarding a
death penalty sentence in Missouri for a
person who committed a capital murder at the
age of 17,
[245] the American Psychological
Association asserted that crimes committed
by minors should never be subject to the
death penalty because:
|
Adolescent
decision-makers on average are
less future-oriented and less
likely to consider properly the
consequences of their actions.[246] |
* Partial birth abortion,
as described in American News Medical (a
newspaper published by the American Medical
Association[247]),
entails
|
the extraction
of an intact fetus, feet first,
through the birth canal, with
all but the head delivered. The
surgeon forces scissors into the
base of the skull, spreads them
to enlarge the opening, and uses
suction to remove the brain.[248]
[249]
[250]
[251] |
* According to the
executive director of the National Coalition
of Abortion Providers, this procedure was
typically performed at 20+ weeks.[252]
* Preborn human at 20 weeks
after fertilization:

* In June 1995, Republican
Congressman Charles Canady of Florida
sponsored a bill to ban the use of the
partial birth abortion procedure on live
preborn humans except if "necessary to save
the life of a mother."
[254] It was cosponsored by 20
Democrats and 135 Republicans.[255]
This bill passed Congress with 90% of
Republicans voting for it and 62% of
Democrats voting against it. It was vetoed
by Democratic President Bill Clinton. A vote
to override the veto passed in the House and
failed in the Senate by 8 votes.[256]
[257]
* In March 1997, Republican
Congressman Gerald Solomon of New York
sponsored a bill to ban the use of the
partial birth abortion procedure on live
preborn humans except if "necessary to save
the life of a mother."
[258] It passed Congress with 95%
of Republicans voting for it and 62% of
Democrats voting against it. It was vetoed
by Democratic President Bill Clinton. A vote
to override the veto passed in the House and
failed in the Senate by 3 votes.[259]
[260]
* During the period in
which these bills were being debated:
- The executive director of the National
Abortion Federation told the press that the
partial birth abortion procedure "is not
taking place on live fetuses, the way it's
being portrayed. The fetal demise has
already occurred…"
[261]
- Dr. Martin Haskell, who is credited
with inventing the procedure,[262]
sent a letter to Congress asserting,
"Statements that fetuses are not dead until
nearly the end of the procedure are not
accurate. Death occurs early in the
procedure if not before."
[263]
- Two years earlier, American Medical
News interviewed Dr. Haskell and reported:
|
Dr. Haskell and
another doctor who routinely use
the [partial birth] procedure
for late term abortions told
AMNews that the majority of
fetuses aborted this way are
alive until the end of the
procedure.[264] |
- After it was pointed out that this
article conflicted with his assertion to
Congress,[265]
Haskell and the National Abortion Federation
wrote letters to Congress stating that he
and the other doctor had been "quoted out of
context."
[266]
[267] Consequently, the
publication, which had tape-recorded the
interviews, released a transcript of the
contested quotes. When the interviewer said,
"Let's talk first about whether or not the
fetus is dead beforehand," Haskell
responded:
|
No it's not.
No, it's really not. A
percentage are for various
numbers of reasons. … [I]n my
case, I would say probably about
a third of those are definitely
dead before I actually start to
remove the fetus. And probably
the other two-thirds are not.[268] |
- Dr. James McMahon, the other doctor
interviewed for the American Medical News
article, sent a letter to Congress affirming
that a preborn human "feels no pain through
the entire series of procedures" because the
mother is given an anesthetic beforehand,
which induces "a medical coma" and
"neurological fetal demise."
[269]
- Afterwards, the President of the
American Academy of Anesthesiologists, the
President-Elect of the Society for Obstetric
Anesthesia and Perinatology, the Chair of
the Department of Anesthesiology at the
University of Alabama Birmingham Hospital,
and an Associate Professor at the Department
of Pediatrics and Anesthesiology at Emory
University testified before Congress
regarding the effects of anesthesia given
during partial birth abortions. A monthly
newsletter of the American Academy of
Anesthesiologists summarized the hearing as
follows:
|
Testimony of
all the anesthesiology witnesses
was consistent, disputing at
length the claim that anesthesia
given to the mother during a
late-term abortion caused
neurological demise of the
fetus. All of the witnesses
expressed concern that
widespread dissemination of this
false claim by the media has
caused many women to question
whether to undergo necessary
surgery during pregnancy, for
fear of injuring the unborn
child.[270] |
- The transcript of the interview with
Dr. Haskell also revealed that he stated:
|
And I'll be
quite frank: most of my
abortions are elective in that
20-24 week range… In my
particular case, probably 20%
are for genetic reasons. And the
other 80% are purely elective…
[271]
[272]
[273] |
- One week after this information was
released in a congressional report,[274]
the American Civil Liberties Union, National
Organization for Women, People For the
American Way and 50 other organizations sent
a joint letter to Congress stating that
partial birth abortions were "most often
performed" in cases "of severe fetal
anomalies or a medical condition that
threatens the pregnant woman's life or
health."
[275]
- One month after this, Planned
Parenthood issued a press release asserting
that partial birth abortion is "done only in
cases when the woman's life is in danger or
in cases of extreme fetal abnormality."
[276]
- One week after this, the executive
director of the National Coalition of
Abortion Providers appeared on ABC's "Nightline" and stated that partial birth
abortions were done only in extreme
situations of danger to a woman's life and
fetal anomalies.[277]
[278]
[279]
- Four months after this, the national
policy director of Planned Parenthood
testified to Congress: "The truth is that
the procedure is only used when the woman's
life or health is in danger or in cases of
extreme fetal anomaly."
[280]
- Six months later, two doctors at a New
Jersey abortion clinic spoke with a local
newspaper under condition of anonymity. They
independently stated that their clinic
performs roughly 1,500 partial birth
abortions a year, most of which are elective
and not for medical reasons.[281]
[282]
- Six months after this, the executive
director of the National Coalition of
Abortion Providers told the New York Times
and American Medical News that he "lied
through [his] teeth" when he appeared on
Nightline. Disowning his previous
statements, he asserted that partial birth
abortions are "primarily done on healthy
women and healthy fetuses…"
[283]
[284]
- The same week this information was
published, Renee Chelian, president of the
National Coalition of Abortion Providers
stated:
|
The spin out of
Washington was that it was only
done for medical necessity, even
though we knew it wasn't so. I
kept waiting for [the National
Abortion Federation] to clarify
it and they never did. I got
caught up: What do we do about
this secret? Who do we tell and
what happens when we tell? But
frankly, no one was asking me,
so I didn't have to worry.[285] |
* In February 2003,
Republican Senator Rick Santorum of
Pennsylvania sponsored a bill to ban the use
of the partial birth abortion procedure on
live preborn humans except if "necessary to
save the life of a mother."
[286] It was cosponsored by 2
Democrats and 43 Republicans.[287]
Congress passed this bill with 95% of
Republicans voting for it and 62% of
Democrats voting against it. It was then
signed into law by Republican President
George W. Bush.[288]
[289] John McCain and Joe Biden
voted for this bill. (Click for a record of
how each Congressman voted.)
* This law does not ban
late-term abortions; only the partial birth
procedure.[290]
It does not prohibit giving a lethal
injection to a preborn human and performing
a partial birth abortion afterwards.[291]
It does not prohibit dismemberment
abortions, in which "the fetal limbs are
pulled off the body in utero, sometimes
while the fetus is still alive."
[292]
[293]
* After this law was
enacted, several abortion providers
challenged it in court.[294]
In April 2007, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld
the constitutionality of the law in a 5-4
vote.[295]
Of the five Supreme Court justices who ruled
to uphold the law, Barack Obama voted
against the nomination of two of them and
identified two of the others as judges he
would not have nominated.[296]
[297]
[298] Of the four justices who
voted to strike down the law, John McCain
has identified all of them as judges he
would not have nominated.[299]
* The day after the Supreme
Court ruling was issued, 13 Democrats in the
U.S. Senate and 57 in the House of
Representatives introduced legislation that
would overturn the ban on partial birth
abortions.[300]
[301]
[302]
[303] Barack Obama has stated
that the "first thing" he would do as
President is sign this bill into law.[304]
* In March of 1970, a
pregnant woman by the name of Norma McCorvey
sued the state of Texas to challenge the
constitutionality of a state law that
prohibited abortion except to save the life
of the mother. McCorvey wanted to keep her
identity secret and assumed the fictitious
name Jane Roe. The name of the Dallas County
district attorney responsible for enforcing
the law was Henry Wade. Thus, the case was
entitled Roe v. Wade.[305]
[306]
[307]
* Before the United States
Supreme Court, the attorney for Roe argued
that the Texas law was unconstitutional
because it violated the Ninth and Fourteenth
Amendments.[308]
The Ninth Amendment reads:
|
The enumeration
in the Constitution, of certain
rights, shall not be construed
to deny or disparage others
retained by the people.[309] |
The clause of the
Fourteenth Amendment relevant to the
argument reads:
|
No State shall…
deprive any person of life,
liberty, or property, without
due process of law…[310] |
* In support of this view,
the attorney for Roe stated that "liberty to
these women would mean liberty from being
forced to continue the unwanted pregnancy."
[311]
* The attorney for the
State of Texas argued that preborn humans
are protected under the Fifth Amendment.[312]
The portion relevant to the argument states:
|
No person shall
be … deprived of life, liberty,
or property, without due process
of law…[313] |
* On January 22, 1973, the
Supreme Court released its ruling. Seven of
the judges ruled in favor of Roe and two of
the judges opposed the ruling. The ruling
overturned the laws of 30 states that
prohibited abortion except to save the life
of the mother.[314]
* The majority ruled these
laws unconstitutional on the basis that they
violated the Fourteenth Amendment, stating
that it protects "the right to privacy," and
that this includes "a woman's qualified
right to terminate her pregnancy."
[315] The relevant portion of the
Fourteenth Amendment reads:
|
No State shall…
deprive any person of life,
liberty, or property, without
due process of law…[316] |
* The Fourteenth Amendment
does not contain the word "privacy" or any
synonym for it.
[317]
[318] It was adopted in 1868 to
address a number of issues relevant to the
Civil War, such as ensuring constitutional
rights for black people.[319]
* The majority wrote that
they were "not in a position to speculate"
as to "when life begins" and criticized the
State of Texas for "adopting one theory of
life," namely, that life begins at
conception.[320]
* They also:
- Used the term "potentiality of human
life" in reference to preborn humans who are
capable of living outside the mother's womb.[321]
- Ruled that preborn humans have no
Constitutional rights.[322]
* The majority created
rules regarding the types of abortion
legislation that states could enact based
upon the three trimesters of a typical
pregnancy:
- First trimester: States cannot
prohibit abortions. They can require that
abortions be done by licensed physicians,
but other than this, they cannot regulate
the manner in which they are performed.[323]
- Second trimester: States cannot
prohibit abortions. They can regulate the
manner in which they are performed for the
purpose of protecting the mother's health.
The ruling cites examples of the types of
regulations that are permissible. These
include establishing "qualifications [for]
the person who is to perform the abortion"
and setting rules regarding "the facility in
which the procedure is to be performed."
[324]
- Third trimester: States can prohibit
abortions after "viability" (meaning the
point where a preborn human is capable of
living outside their mother's womb), but
cannot prohibit abortions "where it is
necessary, in appropriate medical judgment,
for the preservation of the life or health
of the mother."
[325] The ruling cites examples
of what may be considered harmful to a
woman's health. These include the "stigma of
unwed motherhood," the work of caring for a
child, and the "distress" "associated with
the unwanted child."
[326]
[327]
After listing these
examples and others, the majority wrote that
this portion of their ruling does not permit
abortions "at whatever time, in whatever
way, and for whatever reason" a woman
chooses.[328]
They repeated this assertion four times
using varying words, but listed no example
of a circumstance where abortion could be
prohibited.[329]
* On the same day that the
Supreme Court released Roe v. Wade, it
issued another ruling in a case entitled Doe
v. Bolton. The same seven judges who ruled
in favor of Roe also ruled in favor of Doe,
and the same two judges opposed the ruling.[330]
The majority wrote that this ruling and Roe
v. Wade "are to be read together."
[331]
* In this case, the State
of Georgia had a law prohibiting abortions
unless the pregnancy would "seriously and
permanently" injure the health of the
mother.[332]
A lower court struck down this law and the
majority of the Supreme Court agreed. The
ruling stated that abortion laws with
exceptions for the health of the mother must
allow for factors such as emotional health,
psychological health, familial concerns, and
the woman's age.[333]
* The Georgia law also
required that the doctor who would perform
the abortion, two other doctors, and a
committee of the medical staff at the
hospital where the abortion was to be done
needed to agree that the abortion was
necessary to preserve the health of the
mother.[334]
The lower court upheld this law and the
Supreme Court struck it down. The majority
ruled that only the doctor who would perform
the abortion needs to determine that the
abortion was necessary to preserve the
health of the mother. Any abortion provider
could make this decision based solely on
their "best clinical judgment."
[335]
* Dr. Warren Hern is a
late-term abortion practitioner, author of
"the nation's most widely used textbook on
abortion standards and procedures," a
participant in crafting "the first version
of the National Abortion Federation Program
Standards for Abortion Services," and "one
of the experts in late abortion sought out
by the national media…"
[336]
[337] In May 1997, he stated:
|
I say every
pregnancy carries a risk of
death.[338] |
|
I will certify
that any pregnancy is a threat
to a woman's life and could
cause grievous injury to her
physical health.
[339] |
* In 1992, the Supreme
Court decided a case entitled Planned
Parenthood v. Casey. In this case, the
majority reaffirmed the central element of
Roe v. Wade, but did away with the "rigid
trimester framework."
[340]
* As in Roe v. Wade, the
majority ruled that states cannot prohibit
abortions prior to viability, and laws that
prohibit abortion after viability must
include an exception for the "health of the
mother."
[341] (With regard to viability,
as of 2007, the youngest premature baby to
survive was born at 21 weeks and 6 days
gestation.[342])
* Contrary to Roe v. Wade,
the majority ruled that states could enact
laws that regulated abortion throughout
pregnancy, as long as they did not create a
substantial obstacle to obtaining an
abortion. An example of what would be
acceptable is a law requiring that doctors
provide women with certain information
before they perform abortions.[343]
* A 2007 British study
found that 3.2% of preborn humans aborted on
the basis of diagnoses for conditions such
as Down's Syndrome, heart defects, and
kidney problems, survived for a median time
of 80 minutes after birth, 36% of them for
an hour or less, 6% for six hours or more.[344]
* The Encyclopedia of
Human Biology states:
|
Attempts to
suckle have been seen … in
aborted fetuses of 3 months.[345] |
* In 2003, a child was born
in Britain at 24 weeks gestation following
three abortion procedures. As of 2005, he is
healthy and is the "first long-term abortion
survivor" to be born this prematurely.[346]
[347]
* In 2007, twin brothers
Ieuan and Gabriel Jones were born at 31
weeks gestation. Eleven weeks before this,
it was found that Gabriel was underweight
and his heart three times normal size.
Doctors thought he would die and suggested
an abortion to protect the life of his twin.
An attempt was made to sever his umbilical
cord, but doctors were unable to cut through
it. Subsequently, the mother's placenta was
cut in half to isolate the twins from one
another. The boys were delivered via
caesarian section, and as of November 2007,
were seven months old and both healthy.[348]
(Click
for photos.)
* In 2007, Finely Crampton
was born three weeks premature after an
attempted abortion at 8 weeks. His mother
previously gave birth to two boys with
kidney disorders, one of whom died after 20
minutes, and another who has one kidney. She
was on the birth control pill when she
became pregnant and decided to abort because
she "couldn't cope with the anguish of
losing another baby." At 19 weeks, she
discovered the abortion was not successful
and decided to carry to term. As of June
2008, Finley is 6 months old, "has minor
kidney damage," and is "expected to lead a
normal life."
[349] (Click
for photo.)
* Gianna Jessen was born in
1977 after surviving an abortion at
seven-and-a-half months gestation.[350]
[351] She has cerebral palsy as a
result of the procedure.[352]
She is now 31-years old and is a marathon
runner, writer, singer, and "travels the
world to campaign against abortion."
[353]

* In July 2000, two
registered nurses who worked in the labor
and delivery unit of Christ Hospital in Oak
Lawn, Illinois testified before a U.S.
Congressional subcommittee. Both described
instances at the hospital in which they had
personally seen babies who were born alive
after an abortion and left to die without
any care or comfort provided.[354]
[355] A spokesman for the
hospital's parent corporation estimated that
10-20% of the abortions it performs on
preborn human with genetic defects result in
live births for short periods of time.[356]
* In 2001 and 2002,
identical bills were introduced in the
Illinois legislature with three paragraphs
of operative text stating that anyone "born
alive at any stage of development" is
considered a "person" under Illinois state
law including those born as a result of
"abortion."
[357]
[358] Barack Obama, as an
Illinois state senator, voted against both
of these bills.[359]
[360]
* In 2002, the U.S. House
of Representatives passed by a voice vote,
the U.S. Senate passed by unanimous consent,
and President Bush signed a bill stating
that anyone "born alive at any stage of
development" is considered a "person" under
federal law including those born as a result
of "abortion."
[361]
[362]
[363] This bill contained the
same operative language as the Illinois bill
except for the following paragraph.
Federal bill:
|
(c) Nothing in
this section shall be construed
to affirm, deny, expand, or
contract any legal status or
legal right applicable to any
member of the species homo
sapiens at any point prior to
being 'born alive' as defined in
this section. |
Illinois Bill:
|
(c) A live
child born as a result of an
abortion shall be fully
recognized as a human person and
accorded immediate protection
under the law. |
* At a debate in October
2004, Barack Obama was criticized for voting
against the Illinois bills and replied:
|
At the federal
level there was a similar bill
that passed because it had an
amendment saying this does not
encroach on Roe vs. Wade. I
would have voted for that bill.[364] |
* In 2003, an amendment was
proposed to an Illinois bill to make the
operative language the same as the federal
bill that Obama said he would have voted
for.[365]
[366] The amendment was referred
to a committee chaired by Obama, where it
was unanimously passed. The bill was then
voted down by Obama and five other Democrats
on the committee.[367]
[368]
[369]
[370]
Entry:
"child." Webster's College
Dictionary. Simon & Schuster,
1999. Definition 1a: "an unborn or
recently born person."
Entry:
"Fetus." Black's
Medical Dictionary. Edited
by Dr. Harvey Marcovich. 41st
edition. Scarecrow Press, 2006.
Pages 269-270. Page 269: "The name
given to the unborn child after the
eighth week of development."
Entry: "baby."
Webster's College Dictionary.
Simon & Schuster, 1999. Definition
1a: "an extremely young child;
especially: infant."
Entry:
"Neonatal Intensive Care."
Black's Medical Dictionary.
Edited by Dr. Harvey Marcovich. 41st
edition. Scarecrow Press, 2006. Page
487: "The provision of a dedicated
unit with special facilities,
including one-to-one nursing and
appropriate technology, for caring
for premature and seriously ill
newborn babies."
Entry:
"fetus." Merriam-Webster's
Collegiate Dictionary,
Encyclopćdia Britannica Ultimate
Reference Suite, 2004. The
etymology of this word is: "Middle
English, from Latin, act of bearing
young, offspring; akin to Latin
fetus newly delivered, fruitful—
more at feminine."
Entry: "fetus.
Dorland's Illustrated Medical
Dictionary. 29th edition. W. B.
Saunders Company, 2000. Page 661:
the unborn offspring in the
postembryonic period, after major
structures have been outlined, in
humans from nine weeks after
fertilization until birth.
Entry: "fetal.
Dorland's
Illustrated Medical Dictionary.
29th edition. W. B. Saunders
Company, 2000. Page 661: "of or
pertaining to a fetus; pertaining to
in utero development
after the embryonic period."
Textbook:
Langman's Medical Embryology. By
T. W. Sadler. Ninth edition.
Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 2004.
Page 117: "The period from the
beginning of the ninth week to birth
is known as the fetal period."
For example,
in April of 2001, the U.S. House of
Representatives passed the "Unborn
Victims of Violence Act." This bill
would make it a crime for someone to
harm a "child in utero." (It does
not apply to any situation relating
to an abortion with the consent of
the mother.) The bill defines a
child in utero as "a member of the
species homo sapiens, at any stage
of development, who is carried in
the womb." In their coverage of this
vote, CNN, Reuters, the New York
Times, Washington Post, ABC, USA
Today, MSNBC, and CBS all used the
word "fetus" or "fetal" as a blanket
phrase for humans at any stage prior
to birth. As shown by
Black's Medical Dictionary and
Dorland's Illustrated Medical Dictionary,
their application of this term is
inaccurate.
Article:
"Obama's View on Abortion May Divide
Catholics." By John M. Broder.
New York Times, August 6, 2008.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/07/us/politics/07catholics.html
Republicans are gearing up campaigns to
depict Mr. Obama as a radical on the
question of abortion, because as a
state senator in Illinois he opposed
a ban on the killing of fetuses born
alive.
Press
Release: "RCOG
Statement on the article 'One baby
in 30 left alive after medical
termination' (Daily Mail, 20 April
2007)." Royal College of
Obstetricians and Gynaecologists,
April 20, 2007.
http://www.rcog.org.uk/index.asp?PageID=1925
If the fetus has had a lethal injection,
it will normally die. However, there
are some instances when there are
signs of life at birth. All babies
must be treated with dignity and
respect. Palliative care should be
provided till the baby dies where
relevant.
{Note that the
Royal College of Obstetricians and
Gynaecologists utilizes the word
"baby" after the point of birth.}
For another
example: "Column: "Fetus or baby?"
By Christine Chinlund. Boston
Globe, February 17, 2003.
http://www.boston.com/
Some pretty impartial sources, from the
American College of Obstetricians
and Gynecologists to Webster's
Dictionary, say that any unborn
child is considered a fetus.
{Later in the
column, the author quotes the
following definition of "fetus" from
Webster's, which does not support
the assertion she made: "An unborn
offspring, especially in its later
stages and specifically in humans,
from about the eighth week after
conception until birth." The author
did not attempt to substantiate the
claim about the American College of
Obstetricians and Gynecologists and
I could find no such information on
their website.}
For another
example: News Release: "States May
Provide SCHIP Coverage for Prenatal
Care." United States Department
of Health and Human Services,
September 27, 2002.
http://www.hhs.gov/news/press/2002pres/20020927a.html
The final regulation, which will be
published in the Federal Register on
Wednesday, October 2, allows states
to file a state plan amendment to
use existing SCHIP funding for
coverage for children from
conception to birth and up to age
19.
{As the quote above
explains, the regulation is
applicable from the point of
conception onwards, yet the
following three articles use the
word "fetus" to describe the
beneficiaries.}
1) Article: "HHS
Proposes Insurance for Fetuses;
Opponents Call It a Ploy to Pave Way
for Ban on Abortion." By Alan
Cooperman & Amy Goldstein.
Washington Post, February 1,
2002. Page A-01.
2) Article: " 'Unborn child' coverage moves ahead:
Abortion rights advocates oppose the
new regulation." By Catherine
Berger. CNN, September 27,
2002.
http://archives.cnn.com/2002/ALLPOLITICS/09/27/wh.unborn.child/index.html
The regulation allows states to expand
eligibility to cover a fetus under
the State Children's Health
Insurance Program (SCHIP) without
having to receive a waiver from HHS.
3) Article:
"Government Gives Fetuses 'Unborn
Child' Status." Fox News
(with contribution from the
Associated Press), February 1,
2002.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,44448,00.html
Book:
English for Journalists. By
Wynford Hicks. Second edition.
Routledge, 1998. Page 73:
Jargon is specialized vocabulary,
familiar to the members of a group,
trade or profession. If you write
for a newspaper or general magazine
you should try to translate jargon
into ordinary English whenever you
can. …
A common source of jargon is scientific,
medical, government and legal
handouts.
Book: The
New Oxford Guide to Writing. By
Thomas S. Kane. Oxford University
Press, 1988. Page 199:
Jargon is technical language misused.
Technical language, the precise
diction demanded by any specialized
trade or profession, is necessary
when experts communicate with one
another. It becomes jargon when it
is applied outside the limits of
technical discourse.
Book: The
New York Public Library Writer's
Guide to Style and Usage. Edited
by Andrea J. Sutcliffe. Stonesong
Press/Harper Collins, 1994. Page
586:
When writing for a specialized
audience—one familiar with the topic
or field—a writer must use jargon;
it is the common idiom. When writing
for a lay audience or the general
public, a writer should use jargon
only when necessary and define it
carefully. Where plain English
serves equally well, it should be
used instead.
Dorland's
Illustrated Medical Dictionary.
W.B. Saunders Company, 2000. 29th
edition. Page 770 defines a gravida
as "a pregnant woman."
For example,
the following searches were
performed on July 9, 2008:
|
Organization |
Search results for |
Notes |
|
"fetus" |
"abortion"
AND "mother" AND "fetus" |
"gravida" |
|
New York Times |
3,229 |
615 |
1 * |
1981-current |
|
Washington Post |
3,225 |
632 |
0 |
1987-current |
|
ABC |
> 500 |
53 † |
1 ‡ |
all
available |
|
NBC |
2,830 |
477 |
0 |
all
available |
* Gravida is
the title of a publication of the
Westchester Women's Poetry
Collective.
† The website of
ABC News does not have "AND" search
capability, and so the search was
performed through
Google Advanced Search.
‡ The article is
not written in English.
Book:
Writing for Journalists. By
Wynford Hicks, Sally Adams & Harriet
Gilbert. Routledge, 1999. Page 125:
This emphasis on plainness and
simplicity has been repeated by
those who lay down the law about
journalistic style. The Economist
Pocket Style Book, first
published in the 1980s, quotes
George Orwell's 'six elementary
rules' from his famous essay, 'Politics and the English Language',
written in 1946. …
5. Never use a foreign phrase, a
scientific word or a jargon word if
you can think of an everyday English
equivalent.
Textbook:
Before We Are Born - Essentials of
Embryology and Birth Defects. By
Keith L. Moore & T.V.N. Persaud.
W.B. Saunders Company, 1998. Fifth
edition. Page 500.
Textbook:
Human Life Before Birth. By
Frank J. Dye. Harwood Academic
Publishers, 2000.
Textbook:
Pediatric Toxicology: Diagnosis and
Management of the Poisoned Child.
By Timothy B. Erickson, William R.
Ahrens, Steven E. Aks, Carl R. Baum,
Louis J. Ling. McGraw-Hill, 2005.
Page 46: "The categories of human in
utero exposure consist of maternal
drugs of abuse, maternal
environmental exposure, and maternal
prescription drug use."
Textbook:
Review of Medical Physiology. By
William F. Ganong. 22nd edition.
McGraw Hill, 2005. Page 259:
"Exposure of human females to
androgen in utero does not change
the cyclic pattern…"
Entry:
"abortion." American Heritage
Dictionary of Science. Edited by
Robert K. Barnhart. Houghton
Mifflin, 1986. Page 2:
a birth that occurs before the
embryo or fetus develops enough to
live on its own, usually during the
first twelve weeks of pregnancy
(spontaneous abortion)… SYN:
miscarriage.
Book:
Color Atlas of Physiology. By
Agamemnon Despopoulos & Stefan
Silbernagl. Fifth edition. Thieme,
2003. Page 308: "Fertilization
usually takes place on the first day
after intercourse…"
Textbook:
Langman's Medical Embryology. By
T. W. Sadler. Ninth edition.
Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 2004.
Page 122: "The oocyte is normally
fertilized within 12 hours of
ovulation. However, sperm deposited
in the reproductive tract up to 6
days prior to ovulation can survive
to fertilize oocytes. Thus, most
pregnancies occur when sexual
intercourse occurs within a 6-day
period that ends on the day of
ovulation."
Book:
Psychological Development and Early
Childhood. By John Oates, Clare
Wood & Andrew Grayson. Blackwell,
2005.Page 217 states that a
'genotype' is: "The complete set of
genes present in an individual. The
genotype is determined at
fertilization when genetic
information from the egg and sperm
is combined. "
Book: Mayo
Clinic Guide to a Healthy Pregnancy.
By the Mayo Clinic. Collins, 2004.
Page 45 (section on fertilization):
"This genetic material will
determine your baby's sex, eye
color, hair color, body size, facial
features and – at least to some
extent – intelligence and
personality. … Your baby's sex is
determined at the moment he or she
is conceived."
Book: The
First Nine Months of Life. By
Geraldine Lux Flanagan. Simon &
Shuster, 1962. Second edition. Page
35 states that in the third week,
"the brain has two lobes" and "the
early spinal cord is bordered by the
future vertebrae and muscle
segments." A picture shows the brain
lobes and spinal cord.
Book:
Gray's Anatomy - The Anatomical
Basis of Medicine and Surgery.
Churchill Livingstone, 1995. Page
329 states that at 19-21 days, "The
cranial half of the groove,
representing developing brain,
begins to develop cephalic flexure,
optic primordia become visible…"
College
textbook: Biology: Investigating
Life on Earth. By Vernon L.
Avila. Second edition. Jones and
Bartlett, 1995. Page 693: "First,
the embryo has its own circulatory
system, complete with a heart that
started beating only 24 days after
conception…"
Book:
Gray's Anatomy - The Anatomical
Basis of Medicine and Surgery.
Churchill Livingstone, 1995. Page
329 states that at 21-27 days:
[P]rimary cerebral vesicles appear. … Rudimentary limb buds appear and the heart tubes fuse into a common loop in which contractile activity commences. The primordia of the thyroid gland, lungs, liver, pancreas, and mesonephric tubules are all identifiable.
Book: The
First Nine Months of Life. By
Geraldine Lux Flanagan. Simon &
Shuster, 1962. Second edition. Pages
52-53:
In the sixth and seventh weeks, nerves
and muscles work together for the
first time. If the area of the lips,
the first to become sensitive to
touch, is gently stroked, the baby,
who then is still an embryo,
responds by bending the upper body
to one side and making a quick
backward motion with the arms. This
is called a "total pattern" response
because it involves most of the body
rather than the approximate local
part."
{The details above
are documented by photos. Page 52
notes, "All of the photographs in
this book that show the movement of
the baby are taken from" films made
by Davenport Hooker at the
University of Pittsburgh.}
Book:
Gray's Anatomy - The Anatomical
Basis of Medicine and Surgery.
Churchill Livingstone, 1995. Page
329 states that in the 6th
and 7th weeks, "The
pontine flexure, cerebral
hemispheres and cerebellum are
developing."
Seven weeks
after fertilization. Intrauterine
picture taken under the direction of
Professor Andrzej Skawina,
Collegium Medicum Jagiellonian
University (Krakow, Poland);
Antoni Marsinek, MD, The
Czerwiakowski Gynecological and
Obstetrics Hospital (Krakow,
Poland); Photographers: Andrzej
Zachwieja, Jan Walczewski. There are
a number of different photographers
who have taken intrauterine photos.
We asked several individuals if we
could use their pictures and Life
Issues was the only one who gave
us permission. The pictures from
Life Issues look similar to
those taken by the other
photographers.
Book:
Gray's Anatomy - The Anatomical
Basis of Medicine and Surgery.
Churchill Livingstone, 1995. Page
95:
When mammalian embryos reach a certain
size, growth rather than
morphogenesis occurs. The embryo is
referred to as a fetus; this occurs
at 56-57 postovulatory days in
humans when the onset of bone marrow
formation in the humerus can be seen
(Streeter 1949); at this stage more
than 90% of the named structures of
the adult body have appeared.
Book: The
First Nine Months of Life. By
Geraldine Lux Flanagan. Simon &
Shuster, 1962. Second edition. Page
48:
The appearance of the first bone cells
marks the end of the embryonic
period. This criterion was chosen by
embryologists because the beginning
bone formation coincides with the
essential completion of the body.
Book: The
First Nine Months of Life. By
Geraldine Lux Flanagan. Simon &
Shuster, 1962. Second edition. Pages
52-53: "By the beginning of this
third month the baby moves
spontaneously, without being
touched, for the first time."
Article:
"Fetus." By Frank D. Allan in the
Encyclopedia of Human Biology.
Academic Press, 1997. Volume 3. Page
955 states that in the tenth week:
Division of the heart into chambers is
complete, and a definitive vascular
system carries blood to and from all
parts of the body. … All components
of the brain and spinal cord are
formed, and nerves link the stem of
the brain and the spinal cord to all
tissues and organs of the body.
Book: The
First Nine Months of Life. By
Geraldine Lux Flanagan. Simon &
Shuster, 1962. Second edition. Pages
53-54:
In the ninth and tenth weeks, if the
baby's forehead is touched, he may
turn his head away and pucker up his
brow and frown. … [T]he entire body
becomes sensitive to touch with a
notable exception: the sides, back
and top of the head.
Eleven weeks
after fertilization. Intrauterine
picture taken under the direction of
Professor Andrzej Skawina,
Collegium Medicum Jagiellonian
University (Krakow, Poland);
Antoni Marsinek, MD, The
Czerwiakowski Gynecological and
Obstetrics Hospital (Krakow,
Poland); Photographers: Andrzej
Zachwieja, Jan Walczewski. There are
a number of different photographers
who have taken intrauterine photos.
We asked several individuals if we
could use their pictures and Life
Issues was the only one who gave
us permission. The pictures from
Life Issues look similar to
those taken by the other
photographers.
Article:
"Fetus." By Frank D. Allan in the
Encyclopedia of Human Biology.
Academic Press, 1997. Volume 3. Page
962 states that in the third month,
"Electrical activity of the nervous
system is discernible… Attempts to
suckle have been seen in utero and
in aborted fetuses of 3 months."
Textbook:
Human Genetics: Concepts and
Applications. By Ricki Lewis.
Third edition. McGraw Hill, 1998.
Page 56: "By week 12, the fetus
sucks its thumb, kicks, makes fists
and faces, and has the beginnings of
baby teeth."
Ultrasound
taken on November 25, 1997.
Gestational age (GA) is 14 weeks and
4 days counted from the LMP. This
falls under the category of 15 weeks
after LMP and 13 weeks after
fertilization.
Textbook:
Before We Are Born - Essentials of
Embryology and Birth Defects. By
Keith L. Moore & T.V.N. Persaud.
W.B. Saunders Company, 1998. Fifth
edition. Page 106: "Limb movements,
which occur at the end of the
embryonic period (8 weeks), become
coordinated by the 14th
week, but are too slight to be felt
by the mother."
Book:
Embryology (Board Review
Series). By Ronald W. Dudek & James
D. Fix. Second edition. Lippincott
Williams & Wilkins, 1998. Page 246
states that in weeks 13-16, "Eye
movements begin."
Sixteen weeks
after fertilization. Intrauterine
picture taken under the direction of
Professor Andrzej Skawina,
Collegium Medicum Jagiellonian
University (Krakow, Poland);
Antoni Marsinek, MD, The
Czerwiakowski Gynecological and
Obstetrics Hospital (Krakow,
Poland); Photographers: Andrzej
Zachwieja, Jan Walczewski. There are
a number of different photographers
who have taken intrauterine photos.
We asked several individuals if we
could use their pictures and Life
Issues was the only one who gave
us permission. The pictures from
Life Issues look similar to
those taken by the other
photographers.
Paper: "Pain
and its Effects in the Human Neonate
and Fetus." By K.J.S. Anand & P.R.
Hickey. New England Journal of
Medicine, November 19, 1987.
Page 1322 states that "by 20 weeks
each cortex has a full complement of
109 neurons." {This
article uses the obstetric method of
counting from the last menstrual
period as evidenced by the chart on
page 1322, which uses a gestation of
40 weeks for pregnancy. Two weeks
must be subtracted to provide the
actual time since fertilization.}
Article:
"Brain." New Millennium
Encyclopedia. Simon and Shuster,
1999.
The cerebrum is the largest part of the
human brain, making up approximately
85 percent of the brain's weight;
its large surface area (cortex) and
intricate development account for
the superior intelligence of humans,
compared with other animals. … A
large part of the human cortex, the
frontal area, is used for awareness,
intelligence, and memory.
Ultrasound
taken on December 24, 1997.
Gestational age (GA) is 19 weeks and
4 days counted from the last
menstrual period. This falls under
the category of 20 weeks after LMP
and 18 weeks after fertilization.
Article:
"Fetus." American Medical
Association Complete Medical
Encyclopedia. Edited by Jerrold
B. Leikin & Martin S. Lipsky. Random
House, 2003. Page 558: "At 20 weeks,
the fetus… now sleeps and wakes and
hears sounds."
Twenty weeks
after fertilization. Intrauterine
picture taken under the direction of
Professor Andrzej Skawina,
Collegium Medicum Jagiellonian
University (Krakow, Poland);
Antoni Marsinek, MD, The
Czerwiakowski Gynecological and
Obstetrics Hospital (Krakow,
Poland); Photographers: Andrzej
Zachwieja, Jan Walczewski. There are
a number of different photographers
who have taken intrauterine photos.
We asked several individuals if we
could use their pictures and Life
Issues was the only one who gave
us permission. The pictures from
Life Issues look similar to
those taken by the other
photographers.
Ultrasound
taken on May 31, 1999. Gestational
age (GA) is 21 weeks and 5 days
counted from the last menstrual
period. This falls under the
category of 22 weeks after LMP and
20 weeks after fertilization.
Book:
Embryology (Board Review
Series). By Ronald W. Dudek & James
D. Fix. Second edition. Lippincott
Williams & Wilkins, 1998. Page 247:
Weeks 21-24: "Blink-startle
reflex is demonstrable on
vibroacoustic stimulation of
mother's abdomen."
Entry:
"Fetus." Encyclopedia of Human
Biology. Academic Press, 1997.
Volume 3. By Frank D. Allan. Page
962:
Taste buds are functional at 6 months,
and the modality for sweetness is
well differentiated. Increased
"drinking" of the amniotic fluid is
effected when sweet substances are
introduced.
Book: The
First Nine Months of Life. By
Geraldine Lux Flanagan. Simon &
Shuster, 1962. Second edition. Page
71 states: "In the fifth and sixth
months the grip becomes strong. This
baby is holding a rod and moves his
arm up and down as the rod is
moved." {This is documented by a
photo. Page 52 notes, "All of the
photographs in this book that show
the movement of the baby are taken
from" films made by Davenport Hooker
at the University of Pittsburgh.}
Paper: "Very
Low Birth Weight Outcomes of the
National Institute of Child Health
and Human Development Neonatal
Research Network, January 1995
Through December 1996." By James A.
Lemons et al., including Avroy A.
Fanaroff. Pediatrics, January
2001.
http://www.pediatrics.org/cgi/content/full/107/1/e1
{Figure 3 is a bar
graph of "Mortality before discharge
by gestational age as estimated by
best obstetrical estimate…" The term
"obstetrical estimate" implies that
the weeks are counted from LMP. To
confirm, I wrote Dr. Fanaroff. He
replied: "We do not try to get to
the issue of day of conception hence
when we refer to gestational age we
are always going back to the Last
Menstrual Period." The graph
indicates that the mortality rate at
a gestational age (LMP) of 26 weeks
is less than 20%. Hence, the
survival rate at 24 weeks after
fertilization is more than 80%.}
Paper: "Pain
and its Effects in the Human Neonate
and Fetus." By K.J.S. Anand & P.R.
Hickey. New England Journal of
Medicine, November 19, 1987.
Page 1325:
Most recently the motor responses of 124
healthy full-term neonates to a
pinprick in the leg were reported to
be flexion and adduction of the
upper and lower limbs associated
with grimacing, crying, or both, and
these responses were subsequently
quantified. Similar responses have
also been documented in very
premature neonates, and in a recent
study, Fitzgerald et al. found that
premature neonates (<30 weeks) not
only had lower thresholds for a
flexor response but also had
increased sensitization after
repeated stimulation.
Page 1325:
In other studies of the cry response to
painful procedures, neonates were
found to be more sensitive to pain
than older infants (those 3 to 12
months old)…
{This article uses
the obstetric method of counting
from the last menstrual period, as
evidenced by the chart on page 1322,
which uses a gestation of 40 weeks
for pregnancy. Two weeks must be
subtracted to provide the actual
time since fertilization.}
Paper:
"Symptom Management: Acute Pain,
Chapter 3 - Pain in Preverbal
Children." United States National
Institutes of Health,
Publication Number 94-2421. June
1994.
http://www.nih.gov/
Page 2 cites one
possible reason why younger humans
are more sensitive to pain:
Serotonin (5HT) is a biogenic amine
transmitter that serves an important
role in pain modulation. … Serotonin
levels in the young infants are low
and may limit the effectiveness of
the endogenous pain control
mechanisms (Fitzgerald 1991b).
Paper: "Very
Low Birth Weight Outcomes of the
National Institute of Child Health
and Human Development Neonatal
Research Network, January 1995
Through December 1996." By James A.
Lemons et al., including Avroy A.
Fanaroff. Pediatrics, January
2001.
http://www.pediatrics.org/cgi/content/full/107/1/e1
{Figure 3 is a bar
graph of "Mortality before discharge
by gestational age as estimated by
best obstetrical estimate…" The term
"obstetrical estimate" implies that
the weeks are counted from LMP. To
confirm, I wrote Dr. Fanaroff. He
replied: "We do not try to get to
the issue of day of conception hence
when we refer to gestational age we
are always going back to the Last
Menstrual Period." The graph
indicates that the mortality rate at
a gestational age (LMP) of 30 weeks
is a little less than 5%. Hence, the
survival rate at 28 weeks after
fertilization is more than 95%.}
Textbook:
Before We Are Born - Essentials of
Embryology and Birth Defects. By
Keith L. Moore & T.V.N. Persaud.
W.B. Saunders Company, 1998. Fifth
edition. Page 109: "The expected
date of delivery (EDD) of a fetus is
266 days, or 38 weeks, after
fertilization; that is, 280 days, or
40 weeks, after LNMP (Table 7-1)."
2008
Democratic Party Platform: "Renewing
America's Promise." Democratic
National Committee, August 25,
2008.
http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=78283
The section
entitled "Choice" states:
The Democratic Party strongly and
unequivocally supports Roe v.
Wade and a woman's right to
choose a safe and legal abortion,
regardless of ability to pay, and we
oppose any and all efforts to weaken
or undermine that right.
The Democratic Party also strongly
supports access to comprehensive
affordable family planning services
and age-appropriate sex education
which empower people to make
informed choices and live healthy
lives. We also recognize that such
health care and education help
reduce the number of unintended
pregnancies and thereby also reduce
the need for abortions.
The Democratic Party also strongly
supports a woman's decision to have
a child by ensuring access to and
availability of programs for pre-
and post-natal health care,
parenting skills, income support,
and caring adoption programs.
Search
performed on May 27, 2008 at
http://thomas.loc.gov/. Bill texts
from the 101st to 110th
Congresses searched for: "amendment
to the Constitution of the United
States with respect to the right to
life." Sample result:
H. J. RES. 23
Proposing an amendment to the
Constitution of the United States
with respect to the right to life.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
January 4, 1995
Mr. VOLKMER [Harold L. Volkmer (Democrat
– Missouri)] introduced the
following joint resolution; which
was referred to the Committee on the
Judiciary
JOINT RESOLUTION
Proposing an amendment to the
Constitution of the United States
with respect to the right to life.
Resolved by the Senate and House of
Representatives of the United States
of America in Congress assembled
(two-thirds of each House concurring
therein), That the
following article is proposed as an
amendment to the Constitution of the
United States, which shall be valid
to all intents and purposes as part
of the Constitution when ratified by
the legislatures of three-fourths of
the several States:
Article—
SECTION 1. With respect to the right to
life, the word `person' as used in
this article and in the fifth and
fourteenth articles of amendment to
the Constitution of the United
States applies to all human beings
irrespective of age, health,
function, or condition of
dependency, including their unborn
offspring at every state of their
biological development.
SECTION 2. No unborn person shall be
deprived of life by any person:
Provided, however, That
nothing in this article shall
prohibit a law permitting only those
medical procedures required to
prevent the death of the mother.
SECTION 3. The Congress and the several
States shall have the power to
enforce this article by appropriate
legislation.
SECTION 4. This article shall be
inoperative unless it shall have
been ratified as an amendment to the
Constitution by the legislatures of
three-fourths of the several States,
within ten years of the date of its
submission to the States by the
Congress.
Search
performed on May 27, 2008 at
http://thomas.loc.gov/. Bill texts
from the 101st to 110th
Congresses searched for: "amendment
to the Constitution of the United
States with respect to the right to
life." Sample result:
H. J. RES. 9
Proposing an amendment to the
Constitution of the United States
with respect to the right to life.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
January 7, 2003
Mrs. EMERSON [Jo Ann Emerson (Republican
-Missouri)] introduced the following
joint resolution; which was referred
to the Committee on the Judiciary
JOINT RESOLUTION
Proposing an amendment to the
Constitution of the United States
with respect to the right to life.
Resolved by the Senate and House of
Representatives of the United States
of America in Congress assembled
(two-thirds of each House concurring
therein), That the following
article is proposed as an amendment
to the Constitution of the United
States, which shall be valid only
when ratified by the legislatures of
three-fourths of the several States
within seven years after the date of
final passage of this joint
resolution:
Article—
SECTION 1. With respect to the right to
life, the word `person' as used in
this article and in the fifth and
fourteenth articles of amendment
applies to all human beings
irrespective of age, health,
function, or condition of
dependency, including their unborn
offspring at every state of their
biological development.
SECTION 2. No unborn person shall be
deprived of life by any person:
Provided, however, That nothing
in this article shall prohibit a law
permitting only those medical
procedures required to prevent the
death of the mother of an unborn
person: Provided further,
That nothing in this article shall
limit the liberty of a mother with
respect to the unborn offspring of
the mother conceived as a result of
rape or incest.
SECTION 3. The Congress and the several
States shall have power to enforce
this article by appropriate
legislation.
Home page of
the National Right to Life Political
Action Committee. Accessed August
2008 at
http://www.nrlpac.org/
National Right to Life PAC supports
Senator John McCain for election as
President of the United States and
strongly opposes Barack Obama.
NARAL's
rating of Biden's voting record for
all years in which they issued a
numerical score for him:
|
2007 |
2006 |
2005 |
2004 |
2003 |
|
75% |
100% |
100% |
100% |
36% |
|
2002 |
2000 |
1999 |
1998 |
1996 |
|
100% |
90% |
46% |
65% |
43% |
|
1995 |
1993 |
1992 |
1991 |
1990 |
|
33% |
60% |
100% |
85% |
85% |
Data compiled from
the following sources:
1) Web page:
"Delaware: Senate Pro-Choice Score."
NARAL Pro-Choice America,
August 25, 2008.
http://www.prochoiceamerica.org/choice-action-center/in-congress/...
2) Web page:
"Voting Record: Senator Joe Biden (D‐DE)." NARAL Pro-Choice
America, May 11, 2007.
Previously located at
www.prochoiceamerica.org/elections/statements/candidate-record-biden.pdf
(currently unavailable).
Obama was
asked a similar question several
months earlier at a "Democratic
Candidates Compassion Forum at
Messiah College." CNN, April
13, 2008. A video clip of this
exchange is available at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0YxdV3J4Jw
Moderator: "Senator, do you personally
believe that life begins at
conception, and if not, when does it
begin?"
Obama: "You know, I, I, um – this is
something that I have not, ah, I
think come to a firm resolution on.
Ah, I think it's very hard to know
what that means, when life begins.
Is it when a cell separates? Is it
when, ah, the soul stirs? Ah, so I
don't presume to, to know the answer
to that question. Ah, what I know,
ah, as I've said before, is, is
that, ah, there is something
extraordinarily powerful about
potential life and that, ah, that
has a moral weight to it that, ah,
we take into consideration when
we're having these debates. …"
Article:
"McCain: Won't Rule Out Pro-choice
Running Mate." By Stephen F. Hayes.
Weekly Standard, August 13,
2008.
http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/015/...
I think that the pro-life position is
one of the important aspects or
fundamentals of the Republican
Party," McCain said. "And I also
feel that--and I'm not trying to
equivocate here--that Americans want
us to work together. You know, Tom
Ridge is one of the great leaders
and he happens to be pro-choice. And
I don't think that that would
necessarily rule Tom Ridge out.
Article:
"McCain Softens Abortion Stand." By
Terry M. Neal. Washington Post,
August 24, 1999.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/campaigns/wh2000/...
McCain has a long antiabortion record in
his 17-year congressional career. He
has said he opposes abortion with
the exceptions of rape, incest and
to prevent a woman's death. In a
National Right to Life Committee
questionnaire last year, he answered
"yes" when asked if he supported the
complete reversal of Roe v. Wade.
Article:
"McCain Makes Conflicting Statements
on Abortion." National Right to
Life News, September 14, 1999.
Moreover, on July 22, 1998, McCain
filled out, signed, and returned
NRLC's 1998 Congressional Candidate
Questionnaire, on which McCain was
asked, "Do you support the complete
reversal of the Roe v. Wade and Doe
v. Bolton decisions, thereby
allowing the state legislatures and
the Congress to once again protect
unborn children?" McCain responded,
"Yes."
Web page:
"Human Dignity and the Sanctity of
Life." John McCain 2008.
Accessed June 20, 2008.
http://www.johnmccain.com/Informing/issues/95b18512-d5b6-456e-...
John McCain believes Roe v. Wade is a
flawed decision that must be
overturned, and as president he will
nominate judges who understand that
courts should not be in the business
of legislating from the bench.
Constitutional balance would be restored
by the reversal of Roe v. Wade,
returning the abortion question to
the individual states. The difficult
issue of abortion should not be
decided by judicial fiat.
However, the reversal of Roe v. Wade
represents only one step in the long
path toward ending abortion. Once
the question is returned to the
states, the fight for life will be
one of courage and compassion - the
courage of a pregnant mother to
bring her child into the world and
the compassion of civil society to
meet her needs and those of her
newborn baby. The pro-life movement
has done tremendous work in building
and reinforcing the infrastructure
of civil society by strengthening
faith-based, community, and
neighborhood organizations that
provide critical services to
pregnant mothers in need. This work
must continue and government must
find new ways to empower and
strengthen these armies of
compassion. These important groups
can help build the consensus
necessary to end abortion at the
state level. As John McCain has
publicly noted, "At its core,
abortion is a human tragedy. To
effect meaningful change, we must
engage the debate at a human level."
"Obama
Statement on 35th Anniversary of Roe
v. Wade Decision." January 22, 2008.
http://www.barackobama.com/2008/01/22/...
Thirty-five years after the Supreme
Court decided Roe v. Wade, it's
never been more important to protect
a woman's right to choose. Last
year, the Supreme Court decided by a
vote of 5-4 to uphold the Federal
Abortion Ban, and in doing so
undermined an important principle of
Roe v. Wade: that we must always
protect women's health. With one
more vacancy on the Supreme Court,
we could be looking at a majority
hostile to a women's fundamental
right to choose for the first time
since Roe v. Wade. The next
president may be asked to nominate
that Supreme Court justice. That is
what is at stake in this election. …
This anniversary reminds us that it's
not enough to protect the gains of
the past – we have to build a future
that's filled with hope and
possibility for all Americans.
Speech:
"Barack Obama before Planned
Parenthood Action Fund." July 17,
2007. Transcribed by Laura
Echevarria.
http://lauraetch.googlepages.com/barackobamabeforeplanned...
I have worked on these issues for
decades now. I put Roe at the center
of my lesson plan on reproductive
freedom when I taught Constitutional
Law. …
On this fundamental issue, I will not
yield and Planned Parenthood will
not yield.
Press
Release: "On Anniversary Of Roe,
Clinton Announces Agenda For
Reproductive Health Care. Hillary
for President, January 22, 2008.
http://www.hillaryclinton.com/news/release/view/?id=5404
When I'm President, I will appoint
judges to our courts who understand
that Roe v. Wade isn't just binding
legal precedent, it is the
touchstone of our reproductive
freedom, the embodiment of our most
fundamental rights, and no one - no
judge, no governor, no Senator, no
President - has the right to take it
away.
Article:
"Q&A: Barack Obama." Interview by
Sarah Pulliam and Ted Olsen.
Christianity Today, January 23,
2008.
http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2008/januaryweb-only/104-32.0.html
"Ultimately, women are in the best
position to make a decision at the
end of the day about these issues.
With significant constraints. For
example, I think we can legitimately
say — the state can legitimately say
— that we are prohibiting late-term
abortions as long as there's an
exception for the mother's health.
Those provisions that I voted
against typically didn't have those
exceptions, which raises profound
questions where you might have a
mother at great risk."
Article:
"Clinton Seeking Shared Ground Over
Abortions." By Patrick D. Healy. New
York Times, January 25, 2005.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/25/nyregion/25clinton.html
"Mrs. Clinton supported a proposed ban
on late-term abortions as long as it
included an exception to protect the
health of the mother; in turn, she
has opposed such a ban when it
lacked that exception."
Ruling: "Roe
v. Wade." U.S. Supreme Court,
January 22, 1973. Case 410 U.S. 113.
Decided 7-2. Majority: Blackmun,
Burger, Brennan, Douglas, Stewart,
Marshall, Powell. Concurring:
Burger, Douglas, Stewart.
Dissenting: White, Rehnquist.
http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=US&vol=410&invol=113
Section XI:
For the stage subsequent to viability
the State, in promoting its interest
in the potentiality of human life,
may, if it chooses, regulate, and
even proscribe, abortion except
where necessary, in appropriate
medical judgment, for the
preservation of the life or health
of the mother.
Section VIII:
Specific and direct harm medically
diagnosable even in early pregnancy
may be involved. Maternity, or
additional offspring, may force upon
the woman a distressful life and
future. Psychological harm may be
imminent. Mental and physical health
may be taxed by child care. There is
also the distress, for all
concerned, associated with the
unwanted child, and there is the
problem of bringing a child into a
family already unable,
psychologically and otherwise, to
care for it. In other cases, as in
this one, the additional
difficulties and continuing stigma
of unwed motherhood may be involved.
All these are factors the woman and
her responsible physician
necessarily will consider in
consultation.
Section XI:
In Doe v. Bolton, post, p. 179,
procedural requirements contained in
one of the modern abortion statutes
are considered. That opinion and
this one, of course, are to be read
together.
Ruling: "Doe
v. Bolton." U.S. Supreme Court,
January 22, 1973. Case 410 U.S. 179.
Decided 7-2. Majority: Blackmun,
Brennan, Stewart, Marshall, Powell.
Concurring: Burger, Douglas.
Dissenting: White, Rehnquist.
http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=us&vol=410&invol=179
Section IV:
C. … the medical judgment may be
exercised in the light of all
factors -- physical, emotional,
psychological, familial, and the
woman's age -- relevant to the
well-being of the patient. All these
factors may relate to health. …
D. The appellants next argue that the
District Court should have declared
unconstitutional three procedural
demands of the Georgia statute: …
(2) that the procedure be approved
by the hospital staff abortion
committee; and (3) that the
performing physician's judgment be
confirmed by the independent
examinations of the patient by two
other licensed physicians. …
We conclude that the interposition of
the hospital abortion committee is
unduly restrictive of the patient's
rights and needs that, at this
point, have already been medically
delineated and substantiated by her
personal physician. …
There remains, however, the required
confirmation by two Georgia-licensed
physicians in addition to the
recommendation of the pregnant
woman's own consultant (making under
the statute, a total of six
physicians involved, including the
three on the hospital's abortion
committee). We conclude that this
provision, too, must fall.
The statute's emphasis, as has been
repetitively noted, is on the
attending physician's "best clinical
judgment that an abortion is
necessary." That should be
sufficient. The reasons for the
presence of the confirmation step in
the statute are perhaps apparent,
but they are insufficient to
withstand constitutional challenge.
… If a physician is licensed by the
State, he is recognized by the State
as capable of exercising acceptable
clinical judgment. … If a physician
is licensed by the State, he is
recognized by the State as capable
of exercising acceptable clinical
judgment.
Bill:
"S.1173 - Freedom of Choice Act."
Introduced in the United States
Senate, April 19, 2007.
http://thomas.loc.gov/
To protect, consistent with Roe v. Wade,
a woman's freedom to choose to bear
a child or terminate a pregnancy,
and for other purposes.
[Introduced by Barbara Boxer
(D-California) for herself, Patty
Murray (D-Washington), Debbie
Stabenow (D-Michigan), Jeff Bingaman
(D-New Mexico), Robert Menendez
(D-New Jersey), Frank Lautenberg
(D-New Jersey), Benjamin Cardin
(D-Maryland), Chuck Schumer (D-New
York), Diane Feinstein
(D-California), Hillary Clinton
(D-New York), Barbara Mikulski
(D-Maryland), Max Baucus
(D-Montana), Maria Cantwell
(D-Washington).]
Congressional Record S6017.
United States Senate, May 11,
2007.
http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getpage.cgi?...
At the request of Mrs. BOXER, the name
of the Senator from Illinois (Mr.
OBAMA) was added as a cosponsor of
S. 1173, a bill to protect,
consistent with Roe v. Wade, a
woman's freedom to choose to bear a
child or terminate a pregnancy, and
for other purposes.
Bill:
"S.1173 - Freedom of Choice Act."
Introduced in the United States
Senate, April 19, 2007.
http://thomas.loc.gov/
SEC. 4. INTERFERENCE WITH
REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH PROHIBITED.
…
(b) Prohibition of Interference- A
government may not-
(1) deny or interfere with a woman's
right to choose—
(A) to bear a child;
(B) to terminate a pregnancy prior to
viability; or
(C) to terminate a pregnancy after
viability where termination is
necessary to protect the life or
health of the woman; or
(2) discriminate against the exercise of
the rights set forth in paragraph
(1) in the regulation or provision
of benefits, facilities, services,
or information. …
SEC. 6. RETROACTIVE EFFECT.
This Act applies to every Federal,
State, and local statute, ordinance,
regulation, administrative order,
decision, policy, practice, or other
action enacted, adopted, or
implemented before, on, or after the
date of enactment of this Act.
Web page:
"The Guttmacher Institute's Future."
Approved by the Guttmacher
Institute's Board of Directors, June
23, 2005.
http://www.guttmacher.org/about/mission.html
Guiding Principles …
The Institute works to protect, expand
and equalize access to information,
services and rights that will enable
women and men to …
• exercise the right to choose
abortion …
Paper:
"Abortion in the United States:
Incidence and Access to Services,
2005." By Rachel K. Jones & others
(all with the Guttmacher Institute).
Perspectives on Sexual and
Reproductive Health, March 2008.
Pages 6-16.
http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/journals/4000608.pdf
Data extracted from
Table 1 on page 9:
|
Year |
Reported
Abortions |
Abortions per 1000 women
aged 15-44 |
% of
pregnancies ending in
abortion (excluding
miscarriages) |
|
2001 |
1,291,000 |
20.9 |
24.4 |
|
2002 |
1,269,000 |
20.5 |
23.8 |
|
2003 |
1,250,000 |
20.2 |
23.3 |
|
2004 |
1,222,100 |
19.7 |
22.8 |
|
2005 |
1,206,200 |
19.4 |
22.4 |
NOTE: The
Guttmacher Institute was contacted
in September of 2008 to see if any
later numbers were available. They
responded: "Our most recent abortion
data are from 2005. In order to
comprehensively gather the number of
abortions, we have to survey every
known abortion provider in the
United States. This process is very
time consuming and expensive and
therefore, our studies can only be
undertaken every few years."
Web page:
"Health Care: Barack Obama's Plan."
Accessed June 23, 2008.
http://www.barackobama.com/issues/healthcare/
• Obama's Plan to Cover Uninsured
Americans: Obama will make
available a new national health plan
to all Americans, including the
self-employed and small businesses,
to buy affordable health coverage
that is similar to the plan
available to members of Congress.
The Obama plan will have the
following features:
• Guaranteed eligibility. No American
will be turned away from any
insurance plan because of illness or
pre-existing conditions.
• Comprehensive benefits. The benefit
package will be similar to that
offered through Federal Employees
Health Benefits Program (FEHBP), the
plan members of Congress have. The
plan will cover all essential
medical services, including
preventive, maternity and mental
health care.
Article:
"Democrats pledge support for wide
access to abortion." By Mike
Dorning. Chicago Tribune, Jul 18,
2007.
http://www.chicagotribune.com
Asked about his proposal for expanded
access to health insurance, Obama
said it would cover
"reproductive-health services."
Contacted afterward, an Obama
spokesman said that included
abortions.
The
Constitution of the United States. Signed September 17, 1787. Enacted June 21,
1788.
http://justfacts.com/constitution.asp
Article 2, Clause
2, Section 2:
[The President] with the Advice and
Consent of the Senate, shall appoint
Ambassadors, other public Ministers
and Consuls, Judges of the supreme
Court…
Report:
"Filibusters and Cloture in the
Senate." By Richard S. Beth &
Stanley Bach. Congressional
Research Service, Updated March
28, 2003.
http://www.senate.gov/reference/resources/pdf/RL30360.pdf
Summary (page 2 in
pdf):
The filibuster is widely viewed as one
of the Senate's most characteristic
procedural features. Filibustering
includes any use of dilatory or
obstructive tactics to block a
measure by preventing it from coming
to a vote. The possibility of
filibusters exists because Senate
rules place few limits on Senators'
rights and opportunities in the
legislative process. …
Senate Rule XXII, however, known as the
"cloture rule," enables Senators to
end a filibuster on any debatable matter
the Senate is considering. Sixteen
Senators
initiate this process by presenting a
motion to end the debate. The Senate
does not vote on this cloture motion
until the second day after the
motion is made. Then it usually
requires the votes of at least
three-fifths of all Senators
(normally 60 votes) to invoke
cloture. Invoking cloture on a
proposal to amend the Senate's
standing rules requires the support
of two-thirds of the Senators
present and voting.
Page CRS-10:
Invoking cloture usually requires a
three-fifths vote of the entire
Senate—"three-fifths of the Senators
duly chosen and sworn." If there are
no vacancies, therefore, 60 Senators
must vote to invoke cloture. In
contrast, most other votes require
only a simple majority (that is,
51%) of the Senators present and
voting, assuming that those Senators
constitute a quorum. In the case of
a cloture vote, the key is the
number of Senators voting for
cloture, not the number voting
against. Failing to vote on a
cloture motion has the same effect
as voting against the motion: it
deprives the motion of one of the 60
votes needed to agree to it.
There is an important exception to the
three-fifths requirement to invoke
cloture. Under Rule XXII, an
affirmative vote of two-thirds of
the Senators present and voting is
required to invoke cloture on a
measure or motion to amend the
Senate rules. This exception has its
origin in the recent history of the
cloture rule. Before 1975,
two-thirds of the Senators present
and voting (a quorum being present)
was required for cloture on all
matters. In early 1975, at the
beginning of the 94th
Congress, Senators sought to amend
the rule to make it somewhat easier
to invoke cloture. However, some
Senators feared that if this effort
succeeded, that would only make it
easier to amend the rule again,
making cloture still easier to
invoke. As a compromise, the Senate
agreed to move from a maximum of 67
votes (two-thirds of the Senators
present and voting) to a minimum of
60 votes (three-fifths of the
Senators duly chosen and sworn) on
all matters except future rules
changes, including changes in the
cloture rule itself.11
"Standing
Rules of the Senate: Rule XXII:
Precedence Of Motions." Accessed
June 20, 2008.
http://rules.senate.gov/senaterules/rule22.php
2. Notwithstanding the provisions of
rule II or rule IV or any other rule
of the Senate, at any time a motion
signed by sixteen Senators, to bring
to a close the debate upon any
measure, motion, other matter
pending before the Senate, or the
unfinished business, is presented to
the Senate, the Presiding Officer,
or clerk at the direction of the
Presiding Officer, shall at once
state the motion to the Senate, and
one hour after the Senate meets on
the following calendar day but one,
he shall lay the motion before the
Senate and direct that the clerk
call the roll, and upon the
ascertainment that a quorum is
present, the Presiding Officer
shall, without debate, submit to the
Senate by a yea-and-nay vote the
question:
"Is it the sense of the Senate that the
debate shall be brought to a close?"
And if that question shall be
decided in the affirmative by
three-fifths of the Senators duly
chosen and sworn -- except on a
measure or motion to amend the
Senate rules, in which case the
necessary affirmative vote shall be
two-thirds of the Senators present
and voting -- then said measure,
motion, or other matter pending
before the Senate, or the unfinished
business, shall be the unfinished
business to the exclusion of all
other business until disposed of.
Thereafter no Senator shall be entitled
to speak in all more than one hour
on the measure, motion, or other
matter pending before the Senate, or
the unfinished business, the
amendments thereto, and motions
affecting the same, and it shall be
the duty of the Presiding Officer to
keep the time of each Senator who
speaks. Except by unanimous consent,
no amendment shall be proposed after
the vote to bring the debate to a
close, unless it had been submitted
in writing to the Journal Clerk by 1
o'clock p.m. on the day following
the filing of the cloture motion if
an amendment in the first degree,
and unless it had been so submitted
at least one hour prior to the
beginning of the cloture vote if an
amendment in the second degree. No
dilatory motion, or dilatory
amendment, or amendment not germane
shall be in order. Points of order,
including questions of relevancy,
and appeals from the decision of the
Presiding Officer, shall be decided
without debate.
After no more than thirty hours of
consideration of the measure,
motion, or other matter on which
cloture has been invoked, the Senate
shall proceed, without any further
debate on any question, to vote on
the final disposition thereof to the
exclusion of all amendments not then
actually pending before the Senate
at that time and to the exclusion of
all motions, except a motion to
table, or to reconsider and one
quorum call on demand to establish
the presence of a quorum (and
motions required to establish a
quorum) immediately before the final
vote begins. The thirty hours may be
increased by the adoption of a
motion, decided without debate, by a
three-fifths affirmative vote of the
Senators duly chosen and sworn, and
any such time thus agreed upon shall
be equally divided between and
controlled by the Majority and
Minority Leaders or their designees.
However, only one motion to extend
time, specified above, may be made
in any one calendar day.
The
Constitution of the United States. Signed September 17, 1787. Enacted June 21,
1788.
http://justfacts.com/constitution.asp
Article III,
Section 1:
The Judges, both of the supreme and
inferior Courts, shall hold their
Offices during good Behaviour…
Article II, Section
4:
The President, Vice President and all
civil Officers of the United States,
shall be removed from Office on
Impeachment for, and Conviction of,
Treason, Bribery, or other high
Crimes and Misdemeanors.
Article I, Section
2, Clause 5:
The House of Representatives shall chuse
their Speaker and other Officers;
and shall have the sole Power of
Impeachment.
Article I, Section
3, Clause 6:
The Senate shall have the sole Power to
try all Impeachments. … And no
Person shall be convicted without
the Concurrence of two thirds of the
Members present.
Fact Sheet:
"Abortion after the First
Trimester." Planned Parenthood.
Accessed October 2002 at
http://www.plannedparenthood.org/
Presently the death rate from abortion
at all stages of gestation is 0.6
per 100,000 procedures (Paul et al.,
1999).
NOTE: "Paul et al.,
1999" is a secondary source that
cites the CDC. See next note.
Book: A
Clinician's Guide to Medical and
Surgical Abortion. By Maureen
Paul & others. Churchill
Livingstone, 1999. Page 19:
In the United States mortality [from
abortion] was (per 100,000) 2.6
during the period 1972-1976, 0.9 in
1977-1981, 0.7 in 1982-1986, and 0.6
in 1987-1991 (based on deaths
reported by the CDC and number of
abortions from AGI).
NOTE: This
corresponds to the figure for
subsequent years quoted in the next
note.
Document:
"Abortion Surveillance Fact Sheet."
National Center for Chronic
Disease
Prevention & Health Promotion,
Centers for Disease Control,
updated June 7, 2002.
http://www.cdc.gov/od/oc/media/pressrel/fs020606b.htm
The case-fatality rate for known legal
induced abortion for 1993 to 1997
was 0.6 deaths per 100,000 legal
abortions.
Report:
"Abortion Surveillance -- United
States, 1996." By Lisa M. Koonin and
others. Division of Reproductive
Health, National Center for Chronic
Disease Prevention
and Health
Promotion, Centers for
Disease Control, July 30, 1999.
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/ss4804a1.htm
Table 19.
NOTE: The data in
this source and the sources cited in
the next note come from different
divisions of the CDC and are at
variance with one another due to
methodological dissimilarities. It
was necessary to use data from both
divisions because the data from this
source only goes back to 1972 and
the sources in the next note do not
isolate legal vs. illegal
abortion-related deaths.
Constructed
with data from the following
sources:
1) Report: "Table
290F. Deaths For Approximately 64
Selected Causes, By 10-Year Age
Groups, Race, And Sex: United
States, 1950-59." National Center
for Health Statistics, Centers for
Disease Control. Accessed August
2008 at
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/dvs/dx1950_59.pdf
Page 169 (in pdf).
2) Report: "Table
290A. Deaths For 60 Selected Causes,
By 10-Year Age Groups, Race, And
Sex: United States, 1960-67."
National Center for Health
Statistics, Centers for Disease
Control. Accessed August 2008 at
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/statab/dx196067.pdf
Page 169 (in pdf).
3) Report: "Table
290A. Deaths For 69 Selected Causes,
By 10-Year Age Groups, Race, And
Sex: United States, 1968-78."
National Center for Health
Statistics, Centers for Disease
Control. Accessed August 2008 at
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/dvs/dx196878.pdf
Page 358 (in pdf).
4) Report:
"Resident population by age, color,
and sex: United States, 1950-1959."
National Center for Health
Statistics, Centers for Disease
Control. Mailed to Just Facts
from the aforementioned agency,
August 7, 2008.
5) Report:
"Population by age groups, race, and
sex for 1960-97." National Center
for Health Statistics, Centers for
Disease Control. Accessed August
2008 at
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/statab/pop6097.pdf
Pages 19, 21 (in
pdf).
Report:
"Maternal Mortality Surveillance,
United States, 1980-1985." By Lisa
M. Koonin & others. Morbidity and
Mortality Weekly Report, Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention,
December 1, 1988.
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/00001754.htm
Finally, the coding system used by
national vital statistics and states
to describe maternal deaths includes
a combination of outcomes of
pregnancy (e.g. ectopic pregnancy,
abortion), immediate causes of death
(e.g., hemorrhage), and underlying
obstetrical conditions that
contribute to death (e.g.,
obstructed labor). This system of
classification precludes a
determination of the real causes of
maternal death. To develop
strategies to prevent maternal
deaths, public health personnel need
to know the immediate cause of death
as well as the underlying conditions
that led to death.
Constructed
with data from the following
sources:
1) Report: "Table
290F. Deaths For Approximately 64
Selected Causes, By 10-Year Age
Groups, Race, And Sex: United
States, 1950-59." National Center
for Health Statistics, U.S. Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention.
Accessed August 2008 at
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/dvs/dx1950_59.pdf
Page 167 (in pdf).
2) Report: "Table
290A. Deaths For 60 Selected Causes,
By 10-Year Age Groups, Race, And
Sex: United States, 1960-67."
National Center for Health
Statistics, U.S. Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention. Accessed
August 2008 at
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/statab/dx196067.pdf
Page 167 (in pdf).
3) Report: "Table
290A. Deaths For 69 Selected Causes,
By 10-Year Age Groups, Race, And
Sex: United States, 1968-78."
National Center for Health
Statistics, U.S. Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention. Accessed
August 2008 at
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/dvs/dx196878.pdf
Page 363 (in pdf).
4) Report:
"Resident population by age, color,
and sex: United States, 1950-1959."
National Center for Health
Statistics, U.S. Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention. Mailed
to Just Facts from the
aforementioned agency, August 7,
2008.
5) Report:
"Population by age groups, race, and
sex for 1960-97." National Center
for Health Statistics, U.S. Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention.
Accessed August 2008 at
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/statab/pop6097.pdf
Pages 19, 21 (in
pdf).
Report:
"Maternal Mortality Surveillance,
United States, 1980-1985." By Lisa
M. Koonin & others. Morbidity and
Mortality Weekly Report, Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention,
December 1, 1988.
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/00001754.htm
Death certificates alone may not provide
adequate information on the sequence
of events that led to death.
Ultimately a single code is assigned
to classify the underlying cause of
death. Often, however, several
factors may contribute to a death;
therefore, the death cannot be
adequately described with a
unidimensional code.
Constructed
with data from the following
sources:
1) Report: "Table
290F. Deaths For Approximately 64
Selected Causes, By 10-Year Age
Groups, Race, And Sex: United
States, 1950-59." National Center
for Health Statistics, U.S. Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention.
Accessed August 2008 at
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/dvs/dx1950_59.pdf
Pages 1, 43, 199,
208 (in pdf).
2) Report: "Table
290A. Deaths For 60 Selected Causes,
By 10-Year Age Groups, Race, And
Sex: United States, 1960-67."
National Center for Health
Statistics, U.S. Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention. Accessed
August 2008 at
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/statab/dx196067.pdf
Pages 1, 40, 200,
210 (in pdf).
3) Report: "Table
290A. Deaths For 69 Selected Causes,
By 10-Year Age Groups, Race, And
Sex: United States, 1968-78."
National Center for Health
Statistics, U.S. Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention. Accessed
August 2008 at
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/dvs/dx196878.pdf
Pages 2, 73, 406,
422 (in pdf).
4) Report:
"Resident population by age, color,
and sex: United States, 1950-1959."
National Center for Health
Statistics, U.S. Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention. Mailed
to Just Facts from the
aforementioned agency, August 7,
2008.
5) Report:
"Population by age groups, race, and
sex for 1960-97." National Center
for Health Statistics, U.S. Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention.
Accessed August 2008 at
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/statab/pop6097.pdf
Pages 19, 21 (in
pdf).
"Fact Sheet:
Abortion After the First Trimester
in the United States." Lead author:
John Mugge. Revised by Deborah
Golub. Planned Parenthood,
2004. Current as of May 2007.
http://www.plannedparenthood.org/files/PPFA/fact-trimester-abortion.pdf
Page 3:
The risk of death from medication
abortion through 63 days' gestation
is about one per 100,000 procedures
(Grimes, 2005). The risk of death
with surgical abortion is about one
per 1,000,000 through 63 days'
gestation (Bartlett et al., 2004).
The risk of death from miscarriage
is about one per 100,000 (Saraiya et
al., 1999). But the risk of death
associated with childbirth is about
10 times as high as that associated
with all abortion (Christiansen &
Collins, 2006).
"Pregnancy-Associated Deaths: A
15-Year Retrospective Study and
Overall Review of Maternal
Pathophysiology." By Lydia R.
Christiansen & Kim A. Collins.
American Journal of Forensic
Medicine and Pathology, March
2006. Pages 11-19.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16501342
Page 11:
Pregnancy-related death is defined by
the International Classification of
Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) as
the death of a woman while pregnant
or within 42 days of termination of
pregnancy, irrespective of the cause
of death. In the year 2000, a
collaborative effort involving World
Health Organization (WHO), UNICEF,
and UNFPA estimated 660 maternal
deaths in the United States. This
averages 11 maternal deaths per
100,000 live births reported.
Page 13:
The risk of death from complications of
pregnancy decreased approximately
99% during the 20th
century, from approximately 850
maternal deaths per 100,000 live
births in 1900 to 7.5 in 1982.4
Page 18:
It is evident that homicides, suicides,
and accidents account for a large
proportion of pregnancy-related
deaths.
{Note that the
figures from 'Christiansen &
Collins, 2006' cannot be used as a
comparator for the others studies
cited by Planned Parenthood in the
note above (i.e., Grimes, Bartlett)
because these studies are limited by
gestational age and do not apply to
"all abortion."}
Fact Sheet:
"Abortion after the First
Trimester." Planned Parenthood.
Accessed October 2002 at
http://www.plannedparenthood.org.
Presently the death rate from abortion
at all stages of gestation is 0.6
per 100,000 procedures (Paul et al.,
1999). The risk of death associated
with childbirth is about 10 times as
high as that associated with
abortion (AGI, 1998).
NOTE: "Paul et al.,
1999" and "AGI, 1998" are secondary
sources that cite the CDC. See next
two notes.
Book: A
Clinician's Guide to Medical and
Surgical Abortion. By Maureen
Paul & others. Churchill
Livingstone, 1999. Page 19:
In the United States mortality [from
abortion] was (per 100,000) 2.6
during the period 1972-1976, 0.9 in
1977-1981, 0.7 in 1982-1986, and 0.6
in 1987-1991 (based on deaths
reported by the CDC and number of
abortions from AGI).
Web page:
"Facts in Brief \Induced Abortion."
Alan Guttmacher Institute. Accessed
October 2002 at
http://www.agi-usa.org/
The risk of death associated with
childbirth is about 10 times as high
as that associated with abortion. …
The data in this fact sheet are the most
current available. Most are from
research conducted by The Alan
Guttmacher Institute and/or
published in its peer-reviewed
journals. An additional source is
the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention.
NOTE: The url at
which this source was previously
located contains a newer version of
this web page that does not make the
claim that "risk of death associated
with childbirth is about 10 times as
high as that associated with
abortion." [Web page: "Facts on
Induced Abortion in the United
States." Alan Guttmacher
Institute, July 2008.
http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/fb_induced_abortion.html]}
Report:
"Vital Statistics of the United
States, 1989. Volume II – Mortality,
Part A."
National Center for Health
Statistics, Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention, 1993.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/vsus/mort89_2a.pdf
Page 13 (in pdf):
SYMBOLS USED IN TABLES
Data not available ---
Category not applicable . . .
Quantity zero —
Page 262 (page 277
in pdf): "Table 1-25. Deaths From
282 Selected Causes, by Race —
United States and Each State: 1989."
|
Cause of
death |
Maryland
(all races) |
|
Legally
induced abortion |
— |
NOTE:
Abortion-related mortality data
provided by the CDC's National
Center for Health Statistics is at
variance with that provided by CDC's
Division of Reproductive Health due
to methodological dissimilarities.
The National Center for Health
Statistics is only cited here
because the Division of Reproductive
Health does not break down their
national data on a state-by states
basis. In July 2008, Just Facts
filed a Freedom of Information Act
Request with the CDC for this data
and is awaiting a response.
Report:
"Vital Statistics of the United
States, 1990. Volume II – Mortality,
Part A."
National Center for Health
Statistics, Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention, 1994.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/vsus/mort90_2a.pdf
Page 262 (page 278
in pdf): "Table 1-25. Deaths From
282 Selected Causes, by Race —
United States and Each State: 1990."
|
Cause of
death |
Maryland
(all races) |
|
Legally
induced abortion |
— |
Report:
"Vital Statistics of the United
States, 1991. Volume II – Mortality,
Part A."
National Center for Health
Statistics, Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention, 1996.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/vsus/mort91_2a.pdf
Page 262 (page 278
in pdf): "Table 1-25. Deaths From
282 Selected Causes, by Race —
United States and Each State: 1990."
|
Cause of
death |
Maryland
(all races) |
|
Legally
induced abortion |
— |
Report:
"Vital Statistics of the United
States, 1992. Volume II – Mortality,
Part B."
National Center for Health
Statistics, Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention, 1996.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/vsus/mort92_2b.pdf
Page 320 (Page 327
in pdf): Table 8-6: "Deaths From 72
Selected Causes, by 10-Year Age
Groups, Race, and Sex."
|
Maryland, Cause of Death:
Pregnancy with abortive
outcome |
Female
(total of all age groups) |
|
White |
— |
|
All other |
— |
|
Black |
— |
Autopsy
number 89-593: "Erica Richardson."
By Julia C. Goodin & others.
Office of the Chief Medical
Examiner, State of Maryland,
June 28, 1989. Autopsy performed on
March 3, 1989. Page 1:
DESCRIPTION OF INJURY …
Close examination of the anterior
portion of the uterus showed a large
irregular perforation of the
anterior lower uterine wall which
extended into a portion of the
cervix.
Page 5:
OPINION: This, 16 year old
black female, ERICA RICHARDSON, died
from rupture of lower uterus and
cervix with complications, including
hemorrhage into the pelvic cavity
surrounding the uterus and air
embolism (air escaping into the
vasculature and heart). According to
police reports, the deceased was
known to have been pregnant and this
is consistent with autopsy findings.
However, she had undergone and
evacuation [abortion] procedure
which resulted in perforation of the
uterus.
Article:
"Teen's death after abortion brings
suit." By Larry Perl. Prince
George's Journal Weekly, May
30-31, 1990.
The malpractice suit claims that on the
evening of March 1, 1989, Dr. Gene
Crawford punctured 16-year-old Erica
Kae Richardson's uterus and cervix —
then left her "bleeding to death" on
an operating table in his Laurel
office for four hours, without
monitoring vital signs.
At 10:45 p.m., Crawford carried
Richardson to her aunt's car and
told the aunt to "take [her] home
and out her to bed," the suit
states. … The aunt, deciding that
her niece needed "emergency
treatment," drove to Bowie Health
Center, where Richardson was
rushed into the emergency room at 11
p.m., in respiratory arrest, and
died shortly after midnight the suit
states. …
Richardson's mother … referred questions
to the attorneys. …Donald McLaughlin
said Richardson's aunt, Denise
Crarey, helped Richardson get an
abortion without telling
Richardson's mother. McLaughlin
added that though Crarey and
Richardson's mother are sisters,
they have "a very strained
relationship." Crarey, a registered
nurse, took Richardson first to
Washington Hospital Center, which
wouldn't perform the abortion
because Richardson was too far along
in her pregnancy, McLaughlin said.
Article:
"Mother is suing doctor: Daughter
died after abortion." By Melanie
Mader. Laurel Leader, June
29, 1990. Pages A1, 3. Page 3:
"Richardson-Smith was unaware that
her daughter was having an abortion
until the Bowie medical center
called her, McLaughlin said."
Press
release: "Human Life International
Claims Maryland Health Department
'Ignores, Covers-Up' Abortion
Deaths." PR Newswire,
November 21, 1991.
Erica Richardson, 16, died March 2,
1989, just hours after an abortion
was performed upon her by Dr. Gene
O. Crawford at his Metropolitan
Women's Center, 9811 Mallard Dr.,
Laurel, Md.
Article: "2
Tragedies Raise Doubts About
Suitland Clinic; Abortion Patient,
Left Paralyzed, Files Suit." By
Retha Hill. Washington Post,
August 13, 1990. Page A1.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/
Article: "2
Tragedies Raise Doubts About
Suitland Clinic; Abortion Patient,
Left Paralyzed, Files Suit." By
Retha Hill. Washington Post,
August 13, 1990. Page A1.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/
Article:
"Botched-abortion victim dies in
Baltimore." Washington Times,
December 2, 1992.
Susanne Logan, the Forestville woman who
was paralyzed in a botched 1989
abortion at a Suitland clinic, died
in Baltimore yesterday of
complications from pneumonia, just
three weeks after she won a
multimillion-dollar settlement in
her case.
Article:
"Pneumonia-Diseases. By Robert
Baird. American Chronicle,
March 02, 2008.
http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/53715
[Pneumonia] is often the final
complication of some other
debilitating disorder, and this is
why many people who get pneumonia
die. Any one whose resistance is
already low is very susceptible to
pneumonia, so for people who are
dying of heart failure, cancer,
stroke or chronic bronchitis, the
actual cause of death is often
pneumonia. In anyone who is
semiconscious or paralyzed,
infection of the lungs is extremely
likely. This is because under such
conditions the normal coughing
reflex that keeps the lungs clear of
mucus and stagnant fluid is reduced,
or even absent.
Book:
Victims of Choice. By Kevin
Sherlock. Brennyman Books, 1996.
Page 134:
Gladyss Estanislao. This
28-year-old married Filipina woman,
a legal secretary who lived in
Prince George's County, died May 12,
1989, 17 days after Alan Ross
reportedly performed a vacuum
abortion on her at the Wisconsin
Avenue Women's Health Care Center in
Bethesda. Ross reportedly failed to
diagnose Gladyss was ectopically
pregnant, and then he reportedly
botched the abortion.
Sources cited: Ms.
Estanislao's death certificate and a
12/5/91 article in The Wanderer.
{Note the discrepancy with the
source below regarding the type of
abortion procedure.}
Article:
"Sudden Death due to Rupture of
Ectopic Pregnancy Concurrent With
Therapeutic Abortion." By Ling Li &
John E. Smialek. Archives of
Pathology & Laboratory Medicine,
July 1993. Pages 698-700. Page 698:
In 1989, a case of sudden death
secondary to EP [ectopic pregnancy]
was investigated by the Office of
the Chief Medical Examiner for the
State of Maryland, Baltimore.
Page 699:
In 1989, a 28-year-old female college
student was found unresponsive on
the bathroom floor near her
classroom. … the subject was
transported to a local hospital
where she was pronounced dead on
arrival.
Further investigation revealed that the
woman had been seen at a clinic for
a missed abortion 17 days before her
death and underwent a dilation and
curettage [abortion procedure]. No
surgical specimen was sent to the
laboratory for pathologic
examination before she left the
clinic. …
… A 0.3 cm rupture site was located on
the lateral surface [of the left
fallopian tube], surrounded by
hemorrhagic tissue.
Editorial:
"Ectopic Pregnancy in Association
With Induced Abortion: Message for
the Pathologist." By Jane W. Hardman
& others. Archives of Pathology &
Laboratory Medicine, July 1993.
Pages 696-697. Page 696:
Admittedly, in each of these cases there
was a failure on the part of
clinicians to recognize the clinical
signs of ectopic pregnancy and to
follow up with the patients
accordingly.
Page 697:
In summary, recommendations that are
already in place, had they been
followed in the cases reported by
Drs Li and Smialek, should have
prevented the deaths of three young
women.
Article:
"Pregnancy." Contributor: Lynn J.
Romrell (Ph.D., Associate Dean for
Education and Professor of Anatomy
and Cell Biology, University of
Florida College of Medicine).
World Book Encyclopedia, 2007
Deluxe Edition.
An ectopic pregnancy occurs when a
fertilized egg implants itself
outside the uterus, usually inside
the fallopian tube, the tube through
which the egg passes on its way from
the ovary to the uterus. The
developing baby cannot survive in an
ectopic pregnancy. The pregnancy may
be fatal to the mother if untreated.
Book:
Essentials of Medical Ultrasound: A
Practical Introduction to the
Principles, Techniques and
Biomedical Applications. Edited
by Michael H. Repacholi and Deirdre
A. Benwell. Humana Press, 1982.
Chapter 5: "Clinical Applications of
Diagnostic Ultrasound. By Edward A.
Lyons. Page 176:
An important diagnosis to make it that
of an ectopic pregnancy. If the
pregnancy test is positive and the
uterus is empty, one may be able to
visualize [via ultrasound] a mass in
the tube. In that instance the
diagnosis of ectopic is almost 100%
certain.
Textbook:
Ultrasound and the Fallopian Tube.
Edited by Ilan E. Timor-Tritsch &
Asim Kurjak. Parthenon Publishing
Group, 1996. Chapter 5:
"Conservative management of ectopic
pregnancy based on color Doppler
studies." By F. Bonilla Musoles &
others. Page 29:
One of the explicit advantages of the
modern pregnancy tests … is that
they can be employed in the
emergency room or in the office of
the gynecologist. This definitely
presents an advantage since, in
applying this pregnancy test
followed by an office ultrasound
examination of the pelvis, a fast
and almost always reliable diagnosis
of the presence or absence of an
abnormal or normal intrauterine
pregnancy can be made. In the case
of an ectopic pregnancy, the chances
of making the diagnosis during the
first visit to the gynecologist's
office or the emergency room are
high.
Page 51:
Even with techniques currently
available, ectopic pregnancy …
results in death for one of every
2000 women affected.
The incidence of ectopic pregnancies
varies between 0.5 and 1% of all
pregnancies.
Page 52:
In most published reports about ectopic
pregnancies, the diagnosis is
established by [a specialized blood
test] in patients with a positive
pregnancy test in whom an
intrauterine [in the uterus]
gestational sac, with or without
recognizable embryonic structures,
cannot be seen by ultrasound
examination.
Book:
Victims of Choice. By Kevin
Sherlock. Brennyman Books, 1996.
Pages 166-7 contain a photocopy of
this letter. It is from Stephen C.
Joseph, New York City's Commissioner
of Health, and is dated June 5,
1987.
Report:
"Abortion Surveillance -- United
States, 1996." By Lisa M. Koonin and
others. Division of Reproductive
Health, National Center for Chronic
Disease Prevention and Health
Promotion, Centers for
Disease Control, July 30, 1999.
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/ss4804a1.htm
Data extracted from
Table 19:
|
Year |
Legal
abortion-related deaths |
|
1981 |
8 |
|
1982 |
11 |
|
1983 |
11 |
|
1984 |
12 |
|
Total |
42 |
Calculated
with data from:
1) "City of New
York & Boroughs: Population &
Population Density from 1790."
Demographia. Accessed August
2008 at
|