Yes, there is such a thing as abortion in the ninth month
After the end of the final presidential debate this week, social media and news outlets clamored to present their sides on late-term abortion. Manyclaimed, “There’s no such thing as an abortion in the ninth month!” Others asked if women could, as Trump asserted, obtain an abortion just days before a baby might be born naturally. Unfortunately, the naysayers are wrong. Third trimester abortion is alive and well in the United States, ensuring that thousands of viable babies are killed every year.
While many states have laws restricting abortion past a certain point (often 20 weeks), there are still plenty of places to kill a baby at the last minute — and abortionists willing to make it happen for the right price. Operation Rescue recently reported on abortionists coast-to-coast who are willing to perform these late term procedures.
Finding them requires little more than a Google search. Colorado abortionist Warren Hern, who will abort a baby in the ninth month, isn’t shy about what he offers. His website discusses third trimester abortions, claiming women who obtain them “are almost always seeking services for termination of a desired pregnancy that has developed serious complications.”
According to other late-term abortionists, like Susan Robinson, this is not true. Even infamous late-term abortionist George Tiller, now deceased, admitted that less than 10 percent of the abortions he performed late in pregnancy were for fetal anomaly.
Hern knows late-term abortion is dangerous for women, noting on his website, “At this point, termination of pregnancy is considered a far more dangerous procedure and carries with it serious risks of complication.” But the dangers don’t deter him. He’s willing to abort viable babies, and he offers the arrangement of burial or religious services to parents who see their children as real “babies.” On his website, we also see the pro-abortion mentality that those who are not developmentally perfect won’t have lives worth living. The fetal anomaly section says:
Down syndrome is presented as a problem so awful no parent or child should have to endure it. Clearly, many disagree. Ryan and Jillian, both of whom have Down syndrome and just got married this year, might have a few words to say to Dr. Hern. So might Lily, the star of a TJ Maxx commercial. And then there’s Carter, conceived in rape, whose mom found out she was pregnant when she went in for a hysterectomy for uterine cancer. She refused to abort, despite the double odds against Carter — who might have some things to say to Dr. Hern as well.
Abby Johnson, a former Planned Parenthood director, addressed late-term abortion on her Facebook page:
Some women have gone on record with their stories of late-term abortions. This summer, Elizabeth told Jezebel her story of Dr. Hern aborting her 32-week-old baby. After being told of abnormalities that showed up later in her pregnancy, Elizabeth and her husband decided to have a late-term abortion:
What isn’t clear is why she believes a viable baby would not suffer from being aborted. But she got some reassurance from Dr. Hern that her baby’s pain was just “reflexes”:
No explanation from Hern on how a 32-weeker in utero wouldn’t feel pain, while a born one of the same age would.
Elizabeth describes the shot used to kill the baby by stopping his heartbeat, a process which she says took about an hour-and-a-half, followed by a drug to stop her from going into labor so she could fly back to New York and deliver. “It was a delivery,” she says. “I felt every body part coming out. I felt the whole thing.”
Hern’s Colorado facility was also the setting for Kate’s 36-week abortion. Kate told her story to OBs and medical students, stating that there were possible problems with her baby, some potentially severe. While there was no clear diagnosis, her neurologist said the baby might be so uncomfortable she could not even sleep. Kate flew to Dr. Hern’s facility for an abortion. She describes a story similar to Elizabeth’s. There was an injection to stop her daughter’s heartbeat, but Kate delivered at the facility. She describes the labor process and Hern telling her to stop pushing. “And my baby slipped through my pelvis and into the skilled and careful arms of my grumpy savior,” she says.
Most would not choose the term “savior” for a man who puts viable babies to death. Yet, his actions are legal in Colorado where he practices.
Abortionists like those listed in Operation Rescue’s piece make a living from aborting viable babies, some in the ninth month. Live Action notes, “While some states have restrictions, all states allow abortion into the ninth month for certain exceptions, and seven states and the District of Columbia allow abortion until birth for any reason (Alaska, Colorado, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington, D.C.).”
Out of about one million aborted babies a year, an estimated 13,000 are late-term — viable babies who could have survived outside the womb. As Live Action News reports, many babies are viable even before the third trimester:
Issues·By Catherine Livingston, PhD
