Partial-Birth Abortion

Introduction: What Are Partial-Birth Abortions?



‘Partial-birth abortion’ is a term coined by pro-life campaigners to refer to ‘dilation and evacuation’ or ‘Intrauterine Cranial Decompression’ abortions. This procedure is usually performed on women five or more months pregnant, and involves the following: the woman’s cervix is dilated, and the fetus is pulled from the womb feet-first. The head remains within the mother’s body. The surgeon pierces the fetus’ skull, inserts a suction tube, and extracts the fetus’ brain. Naturally, this results in the destruction of the fetus. The fetus’ skull then collapses, allowing the remains to be easily extracted from the mother.1 As one might expect, this form of abortion is extremely controversial, to a far greater extent than other forms of abortion.



Arguments Against Partial-Birth Abortions



Of course, when analyzing the arguments against partial-birth abortions, we should also remember that all the...