Partial Birth Abortion Ban passed in Congress

DATE: October 22, 2003
CONTACTS: J.C. Willke, MD, President
Bradley Mattes, Executive Director
PHONE: (513) 729-3600

Life Issues Institute was elated that Congress approved the Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act. The bill - which passed the House by a vote of 281-142, and the Senate by a vote of 64-34 - will soon be signed into law by President Bush.

Partial birth abortion - which is killing a baby during delivery - is legally defined by the law as an abortion in which the baby is delivered "past the navel… outside the body of the mother," or "in the case of head-first presentation, the entire fetal head is outside of the body of the mother." It is the first national legislation that has been passed protecting the life of the baby from any method of abortion since it was legalized by the landmark Roe v. Wade case in 1973. Although the law does allow the method in cases of medical necessity, such claims have long been discredited.

"It is noted that studies have shown that at least 90% of these babies who have been killed are physically normal and that at least half would have survived if the doctor had delivered the head, cut the cord, and sent the baby to the nursery," according to Dr. Willke, president of Life Issues Institute. "The process of partial birth abortion is like a breech delivery. The entire infant is delivered except the head. A scissors is jammed into the base of the skull. A tube is inserted into the skull, and the brain is sucked out. The now-dead infant is pulled out."

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