Aborting Abortion

“A woman realizes too late into her pregnancy that she doesn’t want to go through with

it. The pregnancy is so far along that it cannot be terminated by traditional means. So, in order

to legally kill the fetus, a doctor must deliver all of the body but the head, puncture it, suck out

its brains, throw it in the waste bin, and call it a day” (Douglas 1). A legislative director for the

National Right to Life Committee made this statement while debating the partial-birth abortion

ban. His overall point is obvious – the partial-birth procedure is wrong. I definitely agree.

Partial-birth abortions, which normally occur in the second or third trimester of a pregnancy, are

cruel and should not become legal.

Although all abortions are wrong, partial-birth abortions are completely unnecessary and

must stay illegal. As stated in the Declaration of Independence, every human has the right to

“life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” Andrew Lewis, a senior writer for the Ayn Rand

Institute in Irvine California, says that, “a fetus’ rights begin when the fetus could remain alive if

removed from the womb” (1). This is not true. The rights of a fetus begin at conception. At the

exact time of conception, one cell divides into two. The unborn child begins to grow and develop

into a person starting with the division of that one cell. This makes him a human just like a

newborn baby or a full-grown adult, except for the fact the he is still in the womb. When a

woman gives into the partial birth abortion procedure, she is taking away the rights of her

innocent, unborn child. Doing this goes against what this country’s founding fathers set forth in

the Declaration.

Studies show that it is possible for a baby to live if born during the second or third

trimester of a pregnancy. Why would one want to kill an unborn baby who could possibly live

on his own? If the mother is usually far along in the pregnancy, why not go ahead and give birth
to the baby and put him up for adoption instead of killing him? Women must consider options

like this instead of turning only to abortion. Supporters of partial-birth abortion say that it is the

mother’s decision of whether or not to get an abortion and at what point in time to do so. This

decision should not be up to the mother because her child is an individual person. Since he is

unborn, however, he is not able to stand up for himself.

During the procedure, an abortionist, guided by ultrasound, grabs the unborn child’s legs

with forceps. The abortionist delivers the baby’s entire body, except for the head. He jams

scissors into the baby’s skull then opens them to enlarge the hole. After removing the scissors, he

inserts a suction catheter into the skull. The abortionist sucks out the child’s brains, causing the

skull to collapse. At the end of the procedure, he removes the dead baby from the mother’s body.

(Haskell 1) This is a cruel and gruesome procedure. In America torturing and killing another

human is illegal, so why should it be legal to torture and kill an unborn baby? The answer is

simple – it should not.

It is completely wrong to suck out a baby’s brain only because an irresponsible mother

does not want to keep her child. If a woman is not responsible enough to prevent the pregnancy

in the first place, it is her own fault, not the unborn baby’s. We must also take into consideration

situations in which the mother’s life is in danger or the baby has a serious illness. An article

from Newsweek talks about a woman who aborted one of her twin fetuses to save the other’s

life. (Breslau 1) Some people would say that in cases like this, abortion would be necessary

because there is a life in danger. Abortion is abortion no matter what and it is still wrong even

when trying to save one person’s life. In an interview for The New Republic, a National Right to

Life committee member said, “We don’t believe that sick babies –babies with disabilities- should

be pulled out by the legs and struck through the head. We believe they should live out their life –
whether it’s a few minutes or six hours” (Rovner 1). This is exactly right. God put everyone on

this earth for a reason. He decides when one is born and when one dies, and it is not up to the

mother of an unborn baby to alter the child’s natural death.

Before abortion, many mothers request local anesthetics for pain during the procedure.

The abortionist administers the anesthetics to ensure that the mother will not feel any pain. These

mothers are not considering the fact that the baby will have to suffer throughout the abortion.

Studies done by British neuroscientists show that a fetus may begin to feel pain during the

eleventh week of the pregnancy. (White 1) If this is true, it is likely that a fetus would feel

immense pain throughout the partial-birth procedure. These studies also show that an abortionist

may administer local anesthetics to a fetus before abortion. Doing so, could possibly minimize

the pain that the fetus would experience. If a woman thinks that it is necessary that she has an

abortion, then she should go through with the procedure as soon as possible before the baby is

able to feel pain. The mother would still be wrong in having an abortion, but at least the fetus

would not have to suffer through the pain of the procedure.

What would happen to the number of babies aborted throughout the world if the

procedure becomes legal? If the procedure were to become legal, it is likely that there would be

a gradual increase in the number of abortions. All over the United States, more teenage girls are

becoming pregnant than in past years. More and more young girls might turn to abortion as a

solution to irresponsibility. Not even considering the life of her unborn child, a mother might

choose to abort the baby in order to feel better about herself and avoid public embarrassment

brought by the pregnancy. This should not be legal. The number of teen pregnancies could

decrease if the procedure were to remain illegal. If it is legal for teens to terminate the lives of

unborn babies, many might pay more attention to preventing the pregnancies in the first place.
 At this point in time partial-birth abortions are illegal, but Pro-Choice advocates are

working towards legalization. One of these advocates, Ron Fitzsimmons, executive director for

the National Coalition of Abortion Providers, claimed that “the procedure is rare,” but later

confessed that “the procedure is fairly common and performed on healthy mothers who have

healthy babies” (WorldNetDaily). These supporters have no reason to legalize the partial-birth

abortion. People must realize the cruel reality of this procedure and work together to keep it from

becoming legal. An unborn child has the same rights as any other human being. He or she

should have the opportunity to live and possibly become a successful adult. Who knows, an

aborted baby could have been one to become president of the country or even invent a cure for

cancer, but died before he had the opportunity to be born. By legalizing partial-birth abortions,

Congress is going against the Declaration of Independence and specific rights set forth by the

founders of the country.

 Reference

Breslau, Karen, et. al. “A Hard Line on the Plains.” Newsweek. Vol. 148 Issue 19: Page 43.EBSCOhost.

December 2007. <http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=9&hid=108&sid=94b7cc83-e0ac-

4fb5-9d19-492f2fb7f57e%40sessionmgr104>.

Haskell, Martin. “Partial-Birth Abortion.” National Right to Life. December 2007.

http://www.nrlc.org/abortion/pba/PBA_Images/PBA_Images_Heathers_Place.htm.

Johnson, Douglas. “Testimony of Douglas Johnson on Partial-Birth Abortion.” 11 March 1997.

December 2007. http://www.nrlc.org/abortion/pba/test.html.

Lewis, Andrew. “Abortion: When Do Rights Begin?” Capitalism Magazine. 14 Feb. 2000. December

2007. <http://www.capmag.com/article.asp?ID=273>.

Rovner, Julie. “Partial-Birth Abortion: Separating Fact From Spin.” National Public Radio. 21 February

2006. December 2007. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5168163.

“Sharp Rise Seen in Partial-Birth Abortion.” World Net Daily. 14 January, 2003. December 2007.

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=30488.

White, R. Frank M.D., “Are We Overlooking Fetal Pain and Suffering in Abortion?” American Society

of Anesthesiologists. Volume 65. Number 10. October 2001. December 2007.

<http://www.asahq.org/Newsletters/2001/10_01/white.htm>
SYNTHESIS PAPER
“ABORTING ABORTION”

Name : Taufiq Imam Hidayat

Class : NK-1 09

NIM/BP : 12300/09

ENGLISH DEPARTMENT

FACULTY OF LANGUAGES AND ARTS

UNIVERSITY OF PADANG