On September 26, President George W Bush asked the Supreme
Court to vote on his Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act. The
Act, which he signed in 2003, proposes an end to abortions
performed at more than 24 weeks. At the time, President
Bush told a raucous crowd: "For years, a terrible form
of violence has been directed against children who are
inches from birth, while the law looked the other way."
Mr Bush's timing is no accident.
A changing of the guard is happening at the US Supreme
Court. The president's golden boy, John Roberts, the
new Chief Justice, is keeping everyone guessing about
where he stands on abortion.
The fact of the matter is that
partial-birth abortions — or intact dilation and
extraction (intact D&X) abortions — account
for only 0.2% of abortions in the US, according to a
2000 survey by the Alan Guttmacher Institute. These
abortions are almost always a last resort because either
the mother or unborn baby is in danger. Ectopic pregnancies,
invasive carcinoma of the cervix and severe pre-eclampsia,
are a few of the commonest reasons on the mother's side.
In terms of the fetus, it's usually because of severe
rare birth defects that can usually only be detected
as of the second trimester, like anecencephaly, hydrocephalus
or conjoined twins who share a set of lungs or one heart.
Here in Canada, intact D&X
abortions are entirely legal. The one catch is that
few physicians are trained to do the complicated procedure.
When Canadian women need one, they're often sent to
the US. In 2003, 30 women from Quebec and 15 from Ontario
made the trip.
Famous Canadian abortionist Dr
Henry Morgentaler doesn't believe late-term abortions
need regulation — he says ethics and health considerations
already guide physicians.
Intact D&X is not a decision
women or physicians take lightly — but there is
a need for it in a sad, small number of cases. Hopefully
the US Supreme Court will realize this when they begin
debating the ban, probably this spring.
In the event that they don't, Canada
will welcome those US physicians who are skilled in
the procedure, and the tide of desperate women will
turn northward.
— Julia Cyboran, Managing
Editor
|
