Partial Birth Abortion :: Biology Essays Research Papers

Partial Birth AbortionIn the continuing debates on the legality and morality of abortion, partial turn in abortions have become a hot topic. What exactly is a partial birth abortion? Nebraska state legislation defines it as an abortion outgrowth in which the person performing the abortion partially delivers a living unborn child before killing the unborn child and completing spoken communication (1). While this definition may be fine for legal purposes, it still does not address the essential procedures we still do not know what an actual partial birth abortion procedure entails.The most common procedure is called Intact Dilation and Evacuation, or D&E. D&E involves dismembering the fetus in spite of appearance the uterine cavity and then pulling it out through the already dilated cervix (1) . Another less common, but more controversial method is the distention and extraction method, or D&X. This procedure requires a woman to take medication several days in advance to dilate th e cervix. Once the cervix has dilated, she returns to complete the procedure. When she returns, the doc turns the fetus around in the uterus so that it is positioned feet first, and then delivers the fetus until only the head remains deep down the mothers body. At this point, the physician punctures the base if the skull and suctions out the contents of the fetus head, causing the skull to collapse. The dead fetus is then removed from the womans body (2). In each case the head (or more) is left inside the womans body because in order for a birth to have occurred under common law the head of the fetus must leave the mothers body. Under the true interpretation of the United States Constitution, a person must be born in order to be protected by the government, so by sledding the head in the mothers body the procedure is considered to be legally viable (1).Proponents of a ban on partial birth abortions cite what they see as the extreme cruelty of the procedures as violating the const itutional rights of the fetus. They believe that birth should be defined as occurring as soon as any part of the fetus dead body above the navel is visible, or when any of the fetus body has left the mother (1). Many argue that since the fetus in undoubtedly alive during the procedure, the issue of whether or not an actual birth has occurred should be of little consequence (3).