abortion_header.gif 

Citation

 

"Abortion Facts." By James D. Agresti. Just Facts, October 20, 2002. Revised 2/5/08. http://justfacts.com/abortion.asp

 

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Introductory Notes on Terminology:

One of the major battlegrounds for this issue concerns the use of language. In keeping with our Standards of Credibility, the verbiage used here is explanatory and precise. This means expressions such as 'pro-life' and 'pro-choice' are replaced by words that articulate specific positions. This makes certain sentences cumbersome and repetitive, but for the sake of accuracy, sacrifices in eloquence were made.

Perhaps the largest point of contention regarding 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 the International Dictionary of Medicine and Biology, the word child can apply prior to birth, but both of these sources employ the word baby only from the point of birth onwards.[1] 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'.[2] Many who use this term in the media and general public are misinformed as to what it means. Dorland's Illustrated Medical Dictionary defines a fetus as:

 "the unborn offspring in the postembryonic period, after major structures have been outlined, in humans from nine weeks after fertilization until birth." [3]

In other words, when referring to humans, the word fetus is only applicable from nine weeks after conception until birth. Yet, numerous major news organizations have misapplied it to both before and after this period. [4] [5] Furthermore, the press rarely uses clinical terminology when referring to a pregnant woman ('gravida') or a newborn child ('neonate'). [6] [7]

The term chosen by Just Facts to describe the object of an abortion is 'preborn human'. This phrase is medically accurate, distinguishes between humans and other mammals, and conveys reality in plain language. For those who might object to the use of the word 'human', a few medical references are in order. The medical textbook, Before We Are Born - Essentials of Embryology and Birth Defects, states:

"The zygote and early embryo are living human organisms." [8]

 

Likewise, a clinical 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 textbooks. [9] Moreover, it would 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.

 

Science

 

* The average length of a full-term pregnancy is 266 days or 38 weeks. Obstetricians normally use a figure of 40 weeks, but this is actually the time between the first day of the last menstrual period and childbirth. On average, the first day of the last menstrual period occurs 2 weeks before fertilization.[10]  [11]

 

* Following are facts about human development. They are organized according to the number of weeks since fertilization. Weeks after the first day of the last menstrual period (LMP) are shown in parentheses.

 

 

Fertilization (2 weeks after LMP)

 

Fertilization normally takes place within one day of intercourse. At fertilization, the genetic composition of a preborn human is formed. This genetic information determines gender, eye color, hair color, facial features, and influences characteristics such as intelligence and personality.[219] [220] [221]

 

Genetically speaking, with the exception of identical twins, once a woman conceives a preborn human, the odds against her conceiving the same one again are greater than 10600 to one. (10600 is shorthand for the number 1 with 600 zeros after it. For comparison, there are roughly 1080 atoms in the known universe.) [222] [223] [224] [225]

 

 

3 Weeks after Fertilization (5 weeks after LMP)

The eyes and spinal cord are visible and the developing brain has two lobes.[12] [13]

At this stage, according to the Supreme Court rulings in "Roe vs. Wade" and "Planned Parenthood vs. Casey," a pregnant woman can abort at will. (Details in the section on Constitution and Law.)

4 Weeks after Fertilization (6 weeks after LMP)

The heart is beating. The portion of the brain associated with consciousness (the cerebrum) and internal organs such as the lungs are beginning to develop and can be identified.[14] [15]

7 Weeks after Fertilization (9 weeks after LMP)

Muscles and nerves begin working together. When the upper lip is tickled, the arms move backwards.[16] The portion of the brain associated with consciousness (the cerebrum) has divided into hemispheres.[17]

abortion7weeks.gif [18]

9 Weeks after Fertilization (11 weeks after LMP)

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.[19] [20]The preborn human moves body parts without any outside stimulation.[21]

10 Weeks after Fertilization (12 weeks after LMP)

All parts of the brain and spinal cord are formed. The heart pumps blood to every part of the body.[22] The whole body is sensitive to touch except for portions of the head. The preborn human makes facial expressions.[23]

At this stage, according to the Supreme Court rulings in "Roe vs. Wade" and "Planned Parenthood vs. Casey," a pregnant woman can abort at will. (Details in the section on Constitution and Law.)

11 Weeks after Fertilization (13 weeks after LMP):

[24]

12 Weeks after Fertilization (14 weeks after LMP)

Electrical signals from the nervous system are measurable. After an abortion, efforts to suckle will sometimes be observed.[25]

13 Weeks after Fertilization (15 weeks after LMP):

Ultrasound Video [26]       Windows Media Player   Real Player

14 Weeks after Fertilization (16 weeks after LMP)

The preborn human makes coordinated movements of the arms and legs.[27]

16 Weeks after Fertilization (18 weeks after LMP)

[28]

18 Weeks after Fertilization (20 weeks after LMP)

Ultrasound Video [29]       Windows Media Player   Real Player

The portion of the brain responsible for functions such as reasoning and memory (the cerebral cortex) has the same number of nerve cells as a full-grown adult.[30] [31]

At this stage, according to the Supreme Court rulings in "Roe vs. Wade" and "Planned Parenthood vs. Casey," a pregnant woman can abort at will. (Details in the section on Constitution and Law.)

20 Weeks after Fertilization (22 weeks after LMP):

The preborn human sleeps, awakes and can hear sounds.[32]

Ultrasound Video (Heart) [33]   Windows Media Player   Real Player

24 Weeks after Fertilization (26 weeks after LMP)

Taste buds are functional. The preborn human will swallow more amniotic fluid if a sweetener is added to it.[34] The grip is strong enough to hold onto an object that is moving up and down.[35] If born and given specialized care, the survival rate is more than 80%.[36]

At this stage, according to the Supreme Court's rulings in "Roe vs. Wade," "Doe vs. Bolton," and "Planned Parenthood vs. Casey," a pregnant woman can abort to preserve her "health." One example from Roe vs. Wade of what may be considered harmful to a mother's health is the "stigma of unwed motherhood." (Details in the section on Constitution and Law.)

28 Weeks after Fertilization (30 weeks after LMP)

If born and given specialized care, the survival rate is more than 95%.[37]

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 older infants (3 -12 months old.) [38] [39]

32 Weeks after Fertilization (34 weeks after LMP)


(Premature infant – 3 days after birth)

38 Weeks after Fertilization (40 weeks after LMP)

 

Average point in time when humans are born. At birth, the medical classification changes from a fetus to a neonate.[40] [41] At any point prior to birth, according to the Supreme Court's rulings in "Roe vs. Wade," "Doe vs. Bolton," and "Planned Parenthood vs. Casey," a pregnant woman can abort to preserve her "health." One example from Roe vs. Wade of what may be considered harmful to a mother's health is the work of caring for a child. (Details in the section on Constitution and Law.)

 

Constitution & Law

 

* 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.[42] McCorvey wanted to keep her identity secret and assumed the fictitious name Jane Roe.[43] The name of the Dallas County district attorney responsible for enforcing the law was Henry Wade. Thus, the case was entitled "Roe vs. Wade."

 

* 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.[44] 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." [45]

 

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…" [46]

 

* 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." [47]

 

* During oral arguments, one of the judges asked the attorney for Roe if her case was dependent on the assertion that pre-born humans have no Constitutional rights. After some back and forth, the attorney for Roe responded:

 

"Even if the Court at some point determined the fetus to be entitled to constitutional protection, you would still get back into the weighing of one life against another."

 

After more back and forth, another judge said to Roe's attorney:

 

"[To take this position], you'd have to say that this would be the equivalent after the child was born if the mother thought it bothered her health any having the child around, she could have it killed. Isn't that correct?"

 

The attorney for Roe responded:

 

"That's correct. That..."

 

At this point, the Chief Justice cut her off and started to ask another question. He then interrupted himself and asked:

 

"Did you want to respond further to Justice Stewart? Did you want to respond further to him?"

 

The attorney for Roe stated:

 

"No, Your Honor." [48]

    

 

* The attorney for the State of Texas argued that preborn humans are protected under the Fifth Amendment.[49] The portion relevant to the argument states:

 

"No person shall be … deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law…" [50]

 

* During oral arguments, one of the judges contested this viewpoint by asserting that the Fourteenth Amendment defined what the term "person" meant, and that it did not include preborn humans.[51] The relevant clause reads:

 

"All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside."[52]

 

* After some back and forth, the judge retreated from this position and said:

 

"[I suppose] that's not the definition of a person but that's the definition of a citizen." [53]

 

* The attorney for the State of Texas responded that the only way to understand what the Constitution means by the word "person" was to go to "the teachings at the time the Constitution was framed." He then quoted from William Blackstone, who is described in Simon & Shuster's New Millennium Encyclopedia as a "British jurist and legal scholar, whose work Commentaries on the Laws of England was used for more than a century as the foundation of all legal education in Great Britain and the U.S." In this work, Blackstone wrote that life is a "right" that

 

"is inherent by nature in every individual, and exists even before the child is born." [54] [55]

 

* To further support his position, the attorney for the state of Texas appealed to the Declaration of Independence and started to quote the following sentence from it, but was cut off by one of justices: [56]

 

"WE hold these [cut off] Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness." [57]

 

 

* 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.[58]

 

* 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." [59] The relevant portion of the Fourteenth Amendment reads:

 

"No State shall… deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law…" [60]

 

* The Fourteenth Amendment does not contain the word "privacy" or any synonym for it.[61] [62] It was adopted in 1868 to address a number of issues relevant to the Civil War, such as ensuring constitutional rights for black people.[63]

 

 

* 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.[64]

 

* They also:

 

- Used the term "potentiality of human life" in reference to preborn humans who are capable of living outside the mother's womb.[65]

 

- Ruled that preborn humans have no Constitutional rights.[66]

 

 

* The majority created rules regarding the types of abortion legislation that states could enact based upon the three trimesters of a typical pregnancy:

 

1) 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.[67]

 

2) 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." [68]

 

3) 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." [69] The ruling cites specific examples of what may be considered harmful to a mother's health. They include the "stigma of unwed motherhood," the work of caring for a child, and the "distress" "associated with [an] unwanted child." [70] [71]

 

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.[72] They repeated this assertion four times using varying words, but listed no example of a circumstance where abortion could be prohibited.[73]

 

 

* On the same day that the Supreme Court released Roe vs. Wade, it issued another ruling in a case entitled "Doe vs. 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. [75] The majority wrote that this ruling and Roe v Wade "are to be read together." [76]

 

* 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.[77] 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.[78]

 

* 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.[79] The lower court upheld this law and the Supreme Court struck it down.[80] 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. The abortion provider could make this decision based solely on their "best clinical judgment." [81]

 

 

* In 1992, the Supreme Court decided a case entitled "Planned Parenthood vs. Casey." In this case, the majority reaffirmed the central element of Roe vs. Wade, but did away with the "rigid trimester framework." [82]

 

* As in Roe vs. 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." [83]

 

* Contrary to Roe vs. 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.[84]

 

Politics & Taxpayer Funding

 

* The Democratic Party is in favor of abortion being generally legal. It supports the Supreme Court ruling in Roe vs. Wade. It supports the use of taxpayer funding to perform abortions.[85]

 

* The Republican Party is in favor of abortion being generally illegal. It supports a Constitutional Amendment that would guarantee preborn humans the right to life. Since 1995, Republicans have proposed at least 12 amendments of this nature, all of them containing an exception to save the life of the mother.[86] [87]

 

* The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) supports the use of taxpayer funding to perform abortions. On their website, the ACLU 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." [88]

 

* The ACLU opposes school vouchers. One of the reasons they give for this stance is:

 

"School voucher schemes would force all taxpayers to support religious beliefs and practices with which they may strongly disagree." [89]

 

Media

 

* In 1985, the Los Angeles Times polled 2,703 journalists working at 621 newspapers. It found that 82% were in favor of abortion being generally legal. The same poll found that 49% of the general public was in favor of abortion being generally legal.[91]

 

* In 1981, a poll of 240 journalists at the largest media outlets found that 90% were in favor of abortion being generally legal.[92]

 

* In December of 2001, Hal Bruno, the former political director of ABC news (from the late 1970's until 1997), 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." [93]

 

* 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%

          [94]

 

* Gallup has graphed the results of 14 polls conducted between 1975 and 2001. They all have similar results to the poll above.[95]

 

* 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%

          [96]

 

* 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." [97]

 

* 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. [98]

 

* In 1994, Norma McCorvey (Jane Roe of "Roe vs. Wade"), wrote a book advocating that abortion should remain legal consistent with the Supreme Court's ruling in Roe vs. Wade.[99]

* Within months of this book being released, the Washington Post and New York Times published a review of it.[100] [101]

* One year later, Norma McCorvey changed her position on abortion, and in 1998, she wrote a book advocating that abortion should be illegal and that Roe vs. Wade should be overturned.[102] [103]

* As of August of 2002, four years after the book was released, the Washington Post and New York Times have not published a review of it.[104]

* Five months before Norma McCorvey changed her position on abortion, an organization opposed to abortion moved next door to the abortion clinic where Norma McCorvey worked. This event generated two stories in the Washington Post, which were published on pages A3 and A6.[105] [106]

* When Norma McCorvey's changed her position, the Washington Post ran a story about it on page F1 in the "Style" section.[107]

* In Norma McCorvey's first book (advocating that abortion should be legal), she wrote:

"Most of the reporters told me … that they were secretly pro-choice. What they really wanted from me, I soon figured out, were a few good pro-choice slogans… When their questions touched on the parts of me that didn’t fit it wasn't hard to steer them away. … They were just as eager to stay away from my dark side as I was." [108]

 

 

* In March of 1997, Sandra Cano ("Mary Doe" of "Doe vs. Bolton") made her first public appearance, at which, she unveiled a plaque at the "National Memorial for the Unborn" in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The plaque states:

 

"I am against abortion; I never sought an abortion; I have never had an abortion. Abortion is murder. … The Doe v. Bolton case is based on deceit and fraud. - Sandra Cano, March 23, 1997" [109] [110]

* In the "Doe v. Bolton" case, to protect the privacy of Sandra Cano, she was not required to appear in court. Her case was argued by an ACLU lawyer.[111][112]

* In March of 2001, Sandra Cano signed a sworn affidavit declaring that:

"In 1970, I was pregnant with my fourth child when I went to a legal aid attorney to obtain legal assistance in my struggle to obtain custody of my two children and a divorce from my husband…"

"Instead of real help, my mother, stepfather and my lawyer persisted in their demands that I have an abortion."

"When the demand for an abortion persisted, I fled to Oklahoma and stayed at the home of my ex-husband’s grandmother. I remained in Oklahoma until my mother and lawyer assured me that they would cease their pressuring me to have an abortion."

"Many years later, when I saw the unsealed records in my case, I couldn’t believe what the certification filed in my name said. I am certain the signature on the affidavit that said I wanted an abortion, was not mine. I never saw that affidavit until the records were unsealed. If it was my signature, it was obtained without my knowing the contents of the affidavit." [113]

   

* Sandra Cano carried her pregnancy to term. Her daughter was born on November 6, 1970. She gave her up for adoption and they were later reunited.[114]

 

* In 1989, over the objections of the ACLU lawyer who argued the case, Sandra Cano had the records from "Doe vs. Bolton" unsealed.[115]

 

* A 32-hour search for records was done at the hospital where the ACLU lawyer claimed Sandra Cano applied for an abortion and was denied. None were found.[116]

* Since Sandra Cano made her first public appearance in 1997, Newsweek, the New York Times, Washington Post, and CNN have published articles that mention "Doe vs. Bolton." As of October of 2002, none of their websites contain any mention of Sandra Cano or the above facts.[117]

* As of October of 2002, the websites of CBS, MSNBC, and Time contain no mention of Sandra Cano or the above facts.[118] The ABC website contains one sentence in one article which mentions that Sandra Cano spoke at the "March for Life" in Washington in 1998.[119]

 

 

* A sexual relationship between a 22 year-old man and a 13 year-old girl is statutory rape, and it is illegal in all 50 states.[120] All states have some requirement that healthcare workers must report suspected sexual abuse of underage children.[121] [122]

 

* In 2002, an organization called Life Dynamics 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 a 22 year-old man, and wanted to get an abortion to hide the situation from her parents.[123]

 

* In more than 90% of the phone calls, the Planned Parenthood and National Abortion Federation workers did not act to report the statutory rape.[124]

 

* Planned Parenthood has refused multiple requests for comments and interviews about this subject.[125] After being pressed by a local TV station, they 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.” [126]

 

* This local TV station (WTIC – Fox 61 in Connecticut) examined tapes of the phone calls made by Life Dynamics. They listened to the tapes and confirmed that the workers did not act to report the statutory rape. They confirmed that the dial tones on the tape matched the phone numbers of the abortion clinics and offices that Life Dynamics said they called. They confirmed that the names of the people on the tapes matched the names of the workers at these facilities.[127]

 

* Some workers encouraged the caller to come in for the abortion and lie about the age of the person who impregnated her.[128]

 

* Some workers told the caller that they were required to report the situation, but weren't going to do so.[129]

 

* 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.[130]

 

* As of September 2002, four months after the above information was made public, the websites of ABC, CBS, CNN, MSNBC, Time, Newsweek, the Washington Post and the New York Times contain no mention of it. These same websites have a combined total of 1,294 documents that contain the term "Planned Parenthood." [131] 

 

Women's Health

* 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." [132]

* No source is cited for this information. According to the United States Centers for Disease Control, whose death statistics from legal abortions are used by Planned Parenthood, in the year before Roe vs. Wade (1972), there were 39 deaths from illegal abortions. In the year after Roe vs. Wade (1974), there were 26 deaths from legal abortions.[133]

* The website of Planned Parenthood states:

"The risk of death associated with childbirth is about 10 times as high as that associated with abortion." [134]

* The abortion death rate statistic (0.6 per 100,000) cited by Planned Parenthood is the same figure published by the United States Centers for Disease Control.[135] [136]

* In 1989, a 16 year-old girl by the name of Erica Richardson had her uterus punctured during an abortion and died from bleeding within a few hours. This occurred in Maryland, where that same year, Gladys Estanislao and Debra Gray died from abortions.[137]

* The United States Centers for Disease Control reported no abortion-related deaths in Maryland for 1989. In the ten-year period from 1980-1989, they reported one abortion-related death in the state of Maryland.[138]

* 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." [139]

* For the same time period, the United States Centers for Disease Control reported a total of 42 legal abortion-related deaths in the United States.[140]

* 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 6% of the population lived.[141]

 

* In 1987, Republican President Ronald Reagan asked his Surgeon General, Dr. C. Everett Koop, to prepare a "comprehensive report" concerning "the health effects of abortion on women." [142]

 

* In 1989, Koop wrote a letter to Reagan stating that he and the staff people in several Public Health Agencies reviewed almost 250 studies and found that each had flaws which prevented them from drawing "scientifically sound conclusions." [143]

 

* That evening, Peter Jennings of ABC news reported:

 

"A new report by the Surgeon General concludes that abortion causes little if any physical or emotional harm to women." [144]

 

Dan Rather of CBS news reported:

 

"Surgeon General C. Everett Koop...reportedly concluded that a woman who has an abortion suffers little if any physical or emotional harm from the experience." [144]

 

Tom Brokaw of NBC news reported:

 

"Koop reports he has not found conclusive evidence that abortions have harmful psychological effects on the women who have them," but Koop "found that there is a whole segment of the population that says, quote, 'the best thing that happened to me was my abortion.'" [144]

 

* Koop's report did not state what Jennings, Rather, or Brokaw said it did. Instead, it stated:

 

"In their view and mine, the data do not support the premise that abortion does or does not cause or contribute to psychological problems. … [T]he scientific studies do not provide conclusive data about the health effects of abortion on women." (Full Text of Letter)

 

* Koop's letter suggested that a study be done over five years to provide the necessary data to form scientifically sound conclusions about this issue.

 

* As of 2002, this study has not been done.[145]

 

 

* In 1989, the Los Angeles Times polled 2,533 women. 8% said that they have had an abortion. Of these:

 

- 20% said that this was the first time they had ever told anyone about it.

 

- 26% said that they "mostly regret the abortion."

 

- 56% said that they felt a "sense of guilt about having had an abortion." [146]

 

* 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." [147]

"Serious, long-term emotional problems after abortion are extremely rare and less common than they are after childbirth." [148]

 

* The country of Finland has socialized medicine and keeps detailed health records of its citizens.[149] A search of these records over the years 1987-1994 found that 1,347 women of reproductive age (15-49 years old) committed suicide. This came to a median annual suicide rate of 11.3 per 100,000 women. A study of this data was published in 1996. It found the following:

 

Events within the last year of the woman's life

Annual Suicide Rate
per 100,000

Delivered a child

5.9

Had an abortion

34.7

          [150]

 

* 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. This came to an 8-year suicide rate of 31 per 100,000 women. A study of this data was published in 2002. It found the following:

 

Events in woman's life from 1989-1997

8-Year Suicide Rate
per 100,000

Delivered a child

24.9

Had an abortion

62.8

          [151]

 

* The study 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, the study found the following:

 

Events in woman's life from 1989-1997

8-Year Suicide Rate
per 100,000

Delivered a child

19.1

Had an abortion

63.0

          [152] 

 

Parental Consent & Notification

* As of March 2001, 21 states have passed laws requiring that parents consent to their child having an abortion. In 4 of these states, courts have blocked these laws.[153]

* As of March 2001, 20 states have passed laws requiring that parents be notified before their child has an abortion. In 6 of these states, courts have blocked these laws.[154]

* As of March 2001, the other 9 states and the District of Columbia have no laws regarding parental consent or notification for abortions.[155]

* As of 2002, it is against the law in New Jersey for anyone under 18 years old to get a tattoo or body piercing without written permission from a parent or legal guardian.[156]

* As of 2002, it is legal in New Jersey for a girl of any age to get an abortion without her parents' knowledge or consent.[157] [158]

* Pennsylvania law requires parental consent for abortions. In 1998, a guidance counselor at a Pennsylvania high school helped a 17 year-old girl circumvent this law by obtaining an abortion in New Jersey.[159]

* The guidance counselor, William Hickey, contacted the girl's boyfriend to obtain the money for the abortion and cashed the check in a school account set up for a theatrical production that he was directing.[160]

* The parents of the girl found out about the abortion and that the guidance counselor had a role in it. The parents approached the school principal. The principal told the parents he supported the actions of the guidance counselor.[161]

* After the parents sued the school district and guidance counselor, the school district agreed to implement and enforce a policy that prohibits school personnel from encouraging, assisting, using school resources, or suggesting to students that they go out of state to get an abortion.[162]

* In April of 2002, the United States House of Representatives passed a bill that would make it illegal to for anyone other than the parent of a minor to take them across state lines to get an abortion. The bill contains an exception if the life of the minor is endangered.[163]

* 93% of Republicans voted for this bill. 72% of Democrats voted against it. A record of how each Representative voted is located in the footnote. [164]

* After it was passed by the House of Representatives, the bill was forward to the Senate, which as of October 2002, is controlled by Democrats.[165] The bill was referred to a committee chaired by Democrat Patrick Leahy. No further action has been taken on it.[166] [167]

Population

Note – Facts from particular years were chosen based upon availability, and not to slant the results by singling out certain years that were different from others.

* In 1968, a book entitled The Population Bomb was published. The author, Paul Ehrlich, wrote it at the request of an environmental organization known as the Sierra Club. In the book, Ehrlich predicted there would be mass starvation brought on by overpopulation, and that it was too late to stop it from happening. Among other things, he wrote that we needed a federal law legalizing abortion. The book became a best seller, Ehrlich appeared on the Johnny Carson Show 25 times, and overpopulation became a prominent environmental issue. [168] [169] [170]

* In 1969, the Sierra Club reprinted The Population Bomb and adopted a resolution urging every state to legalize abortion for the purpose of controlling population growth. [171] [172]

* In 1979, Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Scott Armstrong published a book about the Supreme Court. This book states that when the court ruled in "Roe vs. Wade," one of the factors in Justice Potter Stewart's decision to vote in favor of Roe was that he saw abortion as a "reasonable solution to population control." [173]

* In the Population Bomb, Paul Ehrlich wrote that population was growing faster than food production, and that "most of the evidence" indicates that "massive famines will occur soon, possibly in the early 1970's, certainly by the early 1980's." [174]

* Between 1961 and 1998, the population of the world went from about 3 billion to about 6 billion people.[175] During the same period, the amount of available food per person increased by 24%.[176]

* In developing countries (such as India and Uganda), between 1970 and 1996, the population grew by 69%.[177] During the same time period, the percentage of people in these countries who were undernourished went from 37% to 18%.[178] During the same period, the total number of people in these countries who were undernourished declined by 18%.[179]

* In the Population Bomb, Paul Ehrlich projected three possible scenarios to "describe the kinds of disasters that will occur as mankind slips into the famine decades." [180]

* His worst case scenario starts in 1979 with food and water rationing in the United States and famine and food riots in Asia, Africa, and South America. Food shortages generate international tensions that turn the world against the U.S. This culminates in a nuclear war in the early 1980's, mankind is exterminated, and "cockroaches" are the "most intelligent" surviving creatures left on earth.[181]

* His best case scenario starts in 1974 with the United States announcing "it will no longer send food to India, Egypt, and some other countries which it considers beyond hope. A moderate food rationing program is instituted in the United States." The Pope "gives his blessing to abortion… Famine and food riots sweep Asia" and one-fifth of the world's population starves to death by 1985.[182]

* Regarding this best case scenario, Ehrlich wrote that it "involves a maturity of outlook and behavior in the United States that seems unlikely to develop in the near future" and challenges his readers "to create one" that is "more optimistic." [183]

* In 1970, Paul Ehrlich published a book in which he wrote:

"It has been concluded that mandatory population control laws, even those requiring compulsory abortion, could be sustained under our existing Constitution if the population crisis became sufficiently compelling to endanger the society. A few consider the situation already serious enough to justify some forms of compulsion." [184]

* When asked in an interview in 1996 if he still supported coerced birth control, Ehrlich stated that he "would never write again" what he wrote in The Population Bomb. He did not disown any of his previous positions, defended the Chinese government for restricting people to one child per family, and said, "We do all sorts of things for the good of society as a whole which are basically coercive." [185]

* In 1970, Paul Ehrlich became one of the founders of Earth Day.[186]

* Since 1972, Paul Ehrlich has been a member of the Sierra Club Scientific Advisory Committee. Since 1977, he has been a "Professor of Population Studies" at Stanford University.[187]

* In 1990, Paul Ehrlich and his wife published a book entitled The Population Explosion. The dust cover of the book has an endorsement from Democrat Senator Al Gore.[188]

* In 1992, for a month prior to the U.N Earth Summit, CNN ran daily reports entitled, "The People Bomb." The first report featured two people; Paul Ehrlich and an official from the Sierra Club.[189]

*As of 2001, Paul Ehrlich is member of the Board of Directors of the National Audubon Society." [190]

* As of 2002, Paul Ehrlich sits on the U.S. Earth Day Council along with the president of Planned Parenthood.[191]

* In 1984, Republican President Ronald Reagan instituted a policy of not providing U.S. taxpayer money to international organizations that perform or promote abortions. In 1993, Democrat President Bill Clinton overturned this policy. In 2001, Republican President George W. Bush reinstated it.[192]

* After Bush's decision, the five-time president of the Sierra Club wrote an open letter to Bush criticizing him for this action and urging him to reconsider. The first reason he gave was that the "world environment is steadily being threatened by uncontrolled population growth." [193]

* In 1970, the Sierra Club adopted a resolution which stated: "[T]he protection of the quality of our environment is impossible in the face of the present rate of population growth, including that in the United States…" [194]

* Between 1970 and 1998, emissions of the major air pollutants monitored by the United States Environmental Protection Agency declined by 32%.[195] During the same period, the population of the United States increased by 35%.[196]

* In 1992, the United Nations projected that the world population would be 8.5 billion people by the year 2025. (They did not project out any further than this.) [197]

* In 1996, the United Nations projected that the world population would be 9.4 billion people by the year 2050.[198]

* In 2000, the United Nations projected that the world population would be 9 billion people by the year 2050.[199]

* In 2002, the United Nations published a report which states that their earlier population projections were based on a stipulation that has that has "become less and less tenable." The report does not include updated projections, but states that the implications are "momentous" and "the rates of population growth will be much lower than currently projected." It also states that if their new stipulation is accurate, it "will lead first to the slowing of population growth rates and then to slow reductions in the size of world population." [200] [201] [202]

* The state of Texas contains less than 1% of the land area in the world.[203]

* As of October of 2002, if the entire population of the world moved to Texas, the state would have a lower population density than Brooklyn, New York.[204]

* As of 1999, less than 5% of the land in the United States is developed. In half of the states, less than 5.2% of the land is developed. In 75% of the states, less than 10% of the land is developed. The state with the highest percentage of developed land is New Jersey, where more than 30% of the land is developed.[205]

* As of 1997, 78% of the starving young children (5 years of age or younger) in the world live in countries that have food surpluses and export them to other nations.[206]

* As of 1999, China and India export more food than they import.[207]

* As of 2001, the population density in Africa is 44% lower than the world average.[208]

* As of 1996, 90% of the countries in Europe have higher population densities than 89% of the countries in Africa.[209]

* In 1949, Communists took over China and the previous government fled to Taiwan.[210] At the time, China and Taiwan had similar cultures and standards of living.[211]

* Between 1959 and 1962, somewhere between 25 and 30 million Chinese people starved to death.[212]

* Between 1972 and 1998, Taiwan gradually changed from a dictatorship to a multi-party democracy with freedom of religion, speech, and assembly.[213] [214]

* By 1988, Taiwan's per capita Gross National Product was 10 times more than China's, and Taiwan was 3.6 times more densely populated than China.[215]

* As of 1996, the state of Maryland is more densely populated than China.[216]

* As of 2002, the state of New Jersey is more densely populated than the most densely populated region in China.[217]

* A report by the United Nations Population Fund contains a list of "constraints to achieving food security" for "low-income food-deficit countries." This list includes such factors as "limited arable land" and the "shrinking size of family farms." It makes no mention of government oppression or economic freedom.  [218]

Footnotes

[1] a) Entry: “child.” Webster's College Dictionary. Simon & Schuster, 1999. Definition 1a: "an unborn or recently born person."

b) Entry: "fetus." International Dictionary of Medicine and Biology. John Wiley & Sons, 1986. Volume 1. Page 1064 states that a fetus is the "unborn child or offspring while still in the uterus."

c) Entry: “baby.” Webster's College Dictionary. Simon & Schuster, 1999. Definition 1a: "an extremely young child; especially : infant."

d) Entry: "baby." International Dictionary of Medicine and Biology. John Wiley & Sons, 1986. Volume 1. Page 299 defines a baby as a “child between birth and the age of achievement of walking.”

e) Article: “Fetus.” Black's Medical Dictionary. Edited by Gordon Macpherson. 39th edition. Madison Books, 1999. Page 202: “The name given to the unborn child after the eighth week of development.”

[2] Entry: “fetus.” Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, Encyclopædia 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."

[3] a) Entry: "fetus. Dorland's Illustrated Medical Dictionary. 29th edition. W. B. Saunders Company, 2000. Page 661.

b) 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."

c) 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.”

[4] 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 footnote 3, their application of this term is inaccurate.

[5] For another example: Article: "Where’s the Baby? The AP misses the point." By Kathryn Jean Lopez. National Review, March 13, 2002. Accessed at http://www.nationalreview.com/nr_comment/nr_commentprint031302.html in October of 2002. This editorial criticizes the Associated Press for misapplying the word "fetus" to humans who are already born. As shown by footnote 3, their application of this term is erroneous.

[6] Dorland's Illustrated Medical Dictionary. W.B. Saunders Company, 2000. 29th edition. Page 770 defines a gravida as "a pregnant woman." Page 1184 defines a neonate as "a newborn infant."

[7] For example, on October 17, 2002, the archives of the New York Times (http://www.nytimes.com/) and Washington Post (http://www.washingtonpost.com/) were searched for the time period of the previous year. The search engine on the New York Times website produced 84 results for the word "fetus" and 0 results for the words "gravida" and "neonate." The search engine on the Washington Post website produced 108 results for the word "fetus" and 0 results for the words "gravida" and "neonate." 

[8] Book: 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.

[9] a) Textbook: Human Life Before Birth. By Frank J. Dye. Harwood Academic Publishers, 2000.

b) 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.”

c) 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…”

d) Article: “Fetus.” Black's Medical Dictionary. Edited by Gordon Macpherson. 39th edition. Madison Books, 1999. Page 203: “The property of ‘life’ is present from the very beginning, although the movements of the fetus are not felt by the mother till the fifth month.”

[10] Book: 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 states: "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)." 

 

[11] Book: Color Atlas of Life Before Birth. By Marjorie A. England. Year Book Medical Publishers, 1983. Page 12: “Most clinicians do not know the fertilization date; the only date available to them is the first day of the last menstrual period. They use this date to define a menstrual age stretching from time 0, which is usually 14 days before fertilization….”

[12] 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.

[13] 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…"

[14] "Fetus." By Frank D. Allan in the Encyclopedia of Human Biology. Academic Press, 1997. Volume 3. Page 954 states that by the end of the third week, a "primitive heart derived from the medsoblast initiates circulation."

[15] Book: Gray's Anatomy - The Anatomical Basis of Medicine and Surgery. Churchill Livingstone, 1995. Page 329 states that at 21-27 days, "primary 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."

[16] Book: The First Nine Months of Life. By Geraldine Lux Flanagan. Simon & Shuster, 1962. Second edition. Pages 52-53 state: "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." This is 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.

[17] 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."

[18] 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.

[19] Book: Gray's Anatomy - The Anatomical Basis of Medicine and Surgery. Churchill Livingstone, 1995. Page 95 states: "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."

[20] Book: The First Nine Months of Life. By Geraldine Lux Flanagan. Simon & Shuster, 1962. Second edition. Page 48 states: "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."

[21] Book: The First Nine Months of Life. By Geraldine Lux Flanagan. Simon & Shuster, 1962. Second edition. Pages 52-53 state: "By the beginning of this third month the baby moves spontaneously, without being touched, for the first time."

[22] 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."

[23] Book: The First Nine Months of Life. By Geraldine Lux Flanagan. Simon & Shuster, 1962. Second edition. Pages 53-54 state: "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."

[24] 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.

[25] 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."

[26] 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.

[27] Book: 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 states: "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."

[28] 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.

[29] 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.

[30] 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, "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.

[31] Article: "Brain." New Millennium Encyclopedia. Simon and Shuster, 1999. This article states: "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."

[32]  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.”

[33] 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.

[34] Entry: "Fetus." Encyclopedia of Human Biology. Academic Press, 1997. Volume 3. By Frank D. Allan. Page 962 states: "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."

[35] 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.

[36] 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. Accessed at http://www.pediatrics.org/cgi/content/full/107/1/e1 in October of 2001. 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%.

[37] 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. Accessed at http://www.pediatrics.org/cgi/content/full/107/1/e1 in October of 2001. 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%.

[38] 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 states: "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 states: "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.

[39] Paper: "Symptom Management: Acute Pain, Chapter 3 - Pain in Preverbal Children." United States National Institutes of Health, Publication Number 94-2421. June 1994. Accessed at http://www.nih.gov/ninr/research/vol6/preverbal.pdf in September of 2002. 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)."

[40] Book: 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 states: "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)." 

[41] Dorland's Illustrated Medical Dictionary. 29th edition. W.B. Saunders Company, 2000.

Page 661 defines a fetus as "the unborn offspring in the postembryonic period, after major structures have been outlined, in humans from nine weeks after fertilization until birth." Page 1184 defines a neonate as a "newborn infant."

[42] Ruling: "Roe v. Wade." United States Supreme Court. January 22, 1973. Accessed at http://www.tourolaw.edu/patch/Roe/ in September of 2002. Section II.

[43] Book: I Am Roe. By Norma McCorvey. Harper Collins, 1994. Norma McCorvey first made her identity public in the mid 1980's. Pages 172-173 contain information about her first appearance on television, but no date is given. However, the events in the book are chronologically arranged, and the context of the book indicates that this event took place sometime between 1984 and 1986.

[44] "Roe v. Wade - Oral Arguments before the United States Supreme Court." December 13, 1971. Accessed at http://members.aol.com/abtrbng2/oa/roeoa1.htm in September of 2002. The attorney for Roe stated: "I do feel that it is--that the Ninth Amendment is an appropriate place for the freedom to rest. I think the Fourteenth Amendment is equally an appropriate place, under the rights of persons to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."

[45] The Ninth Amendment to the Constitution. Accessed at http://www.house.gov/Constitution/Amend.html in September of 2002.

[46] The Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution. Accessed at http://www.house.gov/Constitution/Amend.html in September of 2002.

[47] Roe v. Wade - Oral Arguments before the United States Supreme Court. December 13, 1971. Accessed at http://members.aol.com/abtrbng2/oa/roeoa1.htm in September of 2002.

[48] "Roe v. Wade - Oral Arguments before the United States Supreme Court." October 11, 1972. Accessed at http://members.aol.com/abtrbng2/oa/roeoa2.htm in September of 2002.

[49] "Roe v. Wade - Oral Arguments before the United States Supreme Court." October 11, 1972. Accessed at http://members.aol.com/abtrbng2/oa/roeoa2.htm in September of 2002.

The attorney for the State of Texas argued: "[U]nder the Fifth Amendment: no one shall be deprived of the right to life, liberty, and property without the due process of law."

[50] The Fifth Amendment to the Constitution. Accessed at http://www.house.gov/Constitution/Amend.html in September of 2002.

[51] "Roe v. Wade - Oral Arguments before the United States Supreme Court." October 11, 1972. Accessed at http://members.aol.com/abtrbng2/oa/roeoa2.htm in September of 2002. Justice Stewart stated: "Yes, but then the Fourteenth Amendment defines "person" as somebody who's born, doesn't it?"

[52] The Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution. Accessed at http://www.house.gov/Constitution/Amend.html in September of 2002.

[53] "Roe v. Wade - Oral Arguments before the United States Supreme Court." October 11, 1972. Accessed at http://members.aol.com/abtrbng2/oa/roeoa2.htm in September of 2002.

[54] "Roe v. Wade - Oral Arguments before the United States Supreme Court." October 11, 1972. Accessed at http://members.aol.com/abtrbng2/oa/roeoa2.htm in September of 2002.

[55] Article: "Blackstone, Sir William." New Millennium Encyclopedia. Simon & Shuster, 1999.

[56] "Roe v. Wade - Oral Arguments before the United States Supreme Court." October 11, 1972. Accessed at http://members.aol.com/abtrbng2/oa/roeoa2.htm in September of 2002. The attorney for the state of Texas stated: "I submit to you that the Declaration of Independence, 'We hold these -" Justice Blackmum then cut him off.

[57] Declaration of Independence. Action of Second Continental Congress, July 4, 1776. Accessed at http://memory.loc.gov/const/declar.html in September of 2002.

[58] Ruling: "Roe v. Wade." United States Supreme Court. January 22, 1973. Accessed at http://www.tourolaw.edu/patch/Roe/ in September of 2002. Section I. (Footnote 2 lists these states.)

[59] Ruling: "Roe v. Wade." United States Supreme Court. January 22, 1973. Accessed at http://www.tourolaw.edu/patch/Roe/ in September of 2002.

[60] The Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution. Accessed at http://www.house.gov/Constitution/Amend.html in September of 2002.

[61] The Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution. Accessed at http://www.house.gov/Constitution/Amend.html in September of 2002. The full text reads:

Section 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

Section 2. Representatives shall be apportioned among the several States according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each State, excluding Indians not taxed. But when the right to vote at any election for the choice of electors for President and Vice President of the United States, Representatives in Congress, the Executive and Judicial officers of a State, or the members of the Legislature thereof, is denied to any of the male inhabitants of such State, being twenty-one years of age,(See Note 15) and citizens of the United States, or in any way abridged, except for participation in rebellion, or other crime, the basis of representation therein shall be reduced in the proportion which the number of such male citizens shall bear to the whole number of male citizens twenty-one years of age in such State.

Section 3. No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.

Section 4. The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned. But neither the United States nor any State shall assume or pay any debt or obligation incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or any claim for the loss or emancipation of any slave; but all such debts, obligations and claims shall be held illegal and void.

Section 5. The Congress shall have power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.

[62] Entry: "Privacy." Roget's Thesaurus. Simon & Shuster, 1999.

[63] Book: The American Constitution – Its Origins and Development. By Alfred H. Kelly and Winfred A. Harbison. W.W. Norton & Company, 1963. Third edition. Pages 468 - 463 trace the history of the Fourteenth Amendment.

[64] Ruling: "Roe v. Wade." United States Supreme Court. January 22, 1973. Accessed at http://www.tourolaw.edu/patch/Roe/ in September of 2002. Section IX states: "We need not resolve the difficult question of when life begins. When those trained in the respective disciplines of medicine, philosophy, and theology are unable to arrive at any consensus, the judiciary, at this point in the development of man's knowledge, is not in a position to speculate as to the answer."  Section X states: "In view of all this, we do not agree that, by adopting one theory of life, Texas may override the rights of the pregnant woman that are at stake." Section IX states: "Texas urges that, apart from the Fourteenth Amendment, life begins at conception and is present throughout pregnancy…"

[65] Ruling: "Roe v. Wade." United States Supreme Court. January 22, 1973. Accessed at http://www.tourolaw.edu/patch/Roe/ in September of 2002. Section IX states: "Viability is usually placed at about seven months (28 weeks) but may occur earlier, even at 24 weeks." Section XI states: "For the stage subsequent to viability, the State in promoting its interest in the potentiality of human life…" The terms "potential life" and "potentiality of life" are used throughout the ruling in reference to pre-born humans at all stages of development.

[66] Ruling: "Roe v. Wade." United States Supreme Court. January 22, 1973. Accessed at http://www.tourolaw.edu/patch/Roe/ in September of 2002. Section IX states: "[T]he word 'person,' as used in the Fourteenth Amendment, does not include the unborn." The attorney for the State of Texas relied on the Fifth Amendment. The ruling did not specifically address the Fifth Amendment. Section IX lists all places where the word "person" appears in the Constitution and Amendments and then states: "But in nearly all these instances, the use of the word is such that it has application only postnatally. None indicates, with any assurance, that it has any possible pre-natal application."

[67] Ruling: "Roe v. Wade." United States Supreme Court. January 22, 1973. Accessed at http://www.tourolaw.edu/patch/Roe/ in September of 2002. Section XI states: "For the stage prior to approximately the end of the first trimester, the abortion decision and its effectuation must be left to the medical judgment of the pregnant woman's attending physician. … The State may define the term "physician" to mean only a physician currently licensed by the State, and may proscribe any abortion by a person who is not a physician as so defined."

[68] Ruling: "Roe v. Wade." United States Supreme Court. January 22, 1973. Accessed at http://www.tourolaw.edu/patch/Roe/ in September of 2002. Section XI states: "For the stage subsequent to approximately the end of the first trimester, the State, in promoting its interest in the health of the mother, may, if it chooses, regulate the abortion procedure in ways that are reasonably related to maternal health." Section X states: "Examples of permissible state regulation in this area are requirements as to the qualifications of the person who is to perform the abortion; as to the licensure of that person; as to the facility in which the procedure is to be performed, that is, whether it must be a hospital or may be a clinic or some other place of less-than-hospital status; as to the licensing of the facility; and the like."

[69] Ruling: "Roe v. Wade." United States Supreme Court. January 22, 1973. Accessed at http://www.tourolaw.edu/patch/Roe/ in September of 2002. Section XI states: "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."

[70] Ruling: "Roe v. Wade." United States Supreme Court. January 22, 1973. Accessed at http://www.tourolaw.edu/patch/Roe/ in September of 2002. Section VIII states: "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 states: "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."

[71] Ruling: "Doe v. Bolton." United States Supreme Court. January 22, 1973. Accessed at http://biotech.law.lsu.edu/cases/reproduction/bolton.htm in September of 2002. Section IV states: "[T]he 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."

[72] Ruling: "Roe v. Wade." United States Supreme Court. January 22, 1973. Accessed at http://www.tourolaw.edu/patch/Roe/ in September of 2002. Section XI states: "On the basis of elements such as these, appellant and some amici argue that the woman's right is absolute and that she is entitled to terminate her pregnancy at whatever time, in whatever way, and for whatever reason she alone chooses. With this we do not agree."

[73] Ruling: "Roe v. Wade." United States Supreme Court. January 22, 1973. Accessed at http://www.tourolaw.edu/patch/Roe/ in September of 2002. Section VIII states: "The privacy right … cannot be said to be absolute." Section VIII states: "[M]ost of these courts have agreed that the right of privacy … is not absolute and is subject to some limitations; and that at some point the state interests as to protection of … prenatal life, become dominant. We agree with this approach." Section IX states: "As we have intimated above, it is reasonable and appropriate for a State to decide that at some point in time … potential human life, becomes significantly involved. The woman's privacy is no longer sole and any right of privacy she possesses must be measured accordingly." Section X states: "We repeat, however, that the State does have an important and legitimate interest in … protecting the potentiality of human life."

[74] Ruling: "Roe v. Wade." United States Supreme Court. January 22, 1973. Accessed at http://www.tourolaw.edu/patch/Roe/ in September of 2002

[75] Ruling: "Doe v. Bolton." United States Supreme Court. January 22, 1973. Accessed at http://biotech.law.lsu.edu/cases/reproduction/bolton.htm in September of 2002.

[76] Ruling: "Roe v. Wade." United States Supreme Court. January 22, 1973. Accessed at http://www.tourolaw.edu/patch/Roe/ in September of 2002. Section XI states: "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."

[77] Ruling: "Doe v. Bolton." United States Supreme Court. January 22, 1973. Accessed at http://biotech.law.lsu.edu/cases/reproduction/bolton.htm in September of 2002. Appendix "A" contains the relevant text of the Criminal Code of Georgia.

[78] Ruling: "Doe v. Bolton." United States Supreme Court. January 22, 1973. Accessed at http://biotech.law.lsu.edu/cases/reproduction/bolton.htm in September of 2002. Section IV states: "We agree with the District Court… 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." Contrary to some commentaries on this case, these statements do not constitute a new ruling. This aspect of the case was not before the court. It was before the lower court, ruled upon, and the appeal was not accepted by the Supreme Court. In the statements quoted above, the Supreme Court was simply restating their decision in Roe vs. Wade. Section II states: "The extent, therefore, to which the District Court decision was adverse to the defendants, that is, the extent to which portions of the Georgia statutes were held to be unconstitutional, technically is not now before us."

[79] Ruling: "Doe v. Bolton." United States Supreme Court. January 22, 1973. Accessed at http://biotech.law.lsu.edu/cases/reproduction/bolton.htm in September of 2002. Appendix "A" contains the relevant text of the Criminal Code of Georgia.

[80] Ruling: "Doe v. Bolton." United States Supreme Court. January 22, 1973. Accessed at http://biotech.law.lsu.edu/cases/reproduction/bolton.htm in September of 2002. Section II states: "The court, however, held that Georgia's interest in protection of health, and the existence of a 'potential of independent human existence' … justified state regulation of 'the manner of performance as well as the quality of the final decision to abort,' … and it refused to strike down the other provisions of the statutes."

[81] Ruling: "Doe v. Bolton." United States Supreme Court. January 22, 1973. Accessed at http://biotech.law.lsu.edu/cases/reproduction/bolton.htm in September