Partial Birth Abortion Ban Challenged
March 29, 2004

A federal ban on partial birth abortions was challenged in three courtrooms around the US Monday. Abortion rights activists say that it infringes on women’s right to choose. The law is called the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act. The law was the first real limitation on abortion since the infamous Roe v. Wade decision.
Attorney A. Stephen Hut Jr. representing the plaintiffs, says that the law “in its stunning breadth woulr … remove the range of abortion alternatives available to women in the second trimester.” He cautioned that the evidence will include “very raw stuff” and that descriptions of the surgery were “not for the faint of heart.” (ok, so he says that the people don’t need a description of the surgery…wow…he sounds about as smart as a pickled beet)
Assistant U.S. Attorney Sean H. Lane described the law as an attempt to ban an “inhumane and gruesome procedure that causes pain to the fetus.” He also said that, “Evidence at trial will illuminate that partial-birth abortion is never medically necessary and is an inhumane procedure that should be banned.”
Pro Life groups call the procedure “partial birth abortion” and doctors who perform it call it “intact dilation and extraction” (basically a nice way of saying “sucking the brains out of the partially born child”)
There are an estimated 2,200 to 5,000 such abortions committed annually in the United States, out of 1.3 Million total. Pro Choice groups claim that the law was written too broadly and vaguely, it threatens to adversely affect the health of some mothers. They say that the language used in the law could criminalize more abortion types and could be a step toward abolishing abortion. (sarcasm begin: oh we cant let that happen :end sarcasm)
When asked by a government lawyer if the fetus experiences pain during partial birth abortions, Maureen Paul, chief medical office for Planned Parenthood in San Francisco, replied, “I have no idea what you mean.” (Can you say IGNORANT?)
The Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act carries a maximum two year prison term for doctors that perform this procedure. (which should be more, maybe, say…life…or death)