Face to Face With a Down Syndrome Abortion

South Dakotans will again vote on an abortion ban this year. Unlike Referred Law 6 in 2006, Initiated Measure 11 contains exceptions for rape, incest and the health of the mother.

It does not contain exceptions for fetal anomalies, however, and the pro-abortion campaign to defeat IM 11 has seized on this as their primary vehicle to convince voters to continue abortion on demand in South Dakota.

Fetal problems such as Down syndrome have also been in the news this year for other reasons.

It has been reported that 90% or more of unborn children diagnosed with Down syndrome are aborted.

Also, when Alaska Governor Sarah Palin was selected as John McCain's running mate, her son Trig received national attention: Trig has Down syndrome. When Palin and her husband Todd discovered during her pregnancy that their unborn child had Down syndrome, they chose life for him. Palin has become a national model of love and appreciation for all human life, regardless of disability.

An article at CNS News today takes a closer look at the abortion of those 90% of Down syndrome children.

studies show that 90 percent of women who receive that diagnosis choose to have an abortion, most typically a late-term D&E abortion that requires a woman’s cervix to be dilated and the unborn child to be removed piece by piece.

“The D&E abortion is the most common abortion performed in the second trimester,” Dr. Anthony Levatino, a New Mexico-based physician who performed more than a thousand of these abortions before a personal tragedy caused him to become a pro-life advocate.

Any abortion is a gruesome killing of an unborn child, but the D&E is particularly disturbing. Why abort Down syndrome children using this method?

Because an amniocentesis is performed around the 16th week of gestation and results can take up to two weeks, unborn children with Down syndrome are aborted using the D&E procedure.

Dr. Levatino describes this hideous procedure:

The first task is remove the laminaria that had earlier been placed in the cervix to dilate it sufficiently to allow the procedure. With that accomplished … surgical instruments (are) arranged on a small table to your right. The first instrument you reach for is a 14-French suction catheter. It is clear plastic and about nine inches long. It has a bore through the center approximately ¾ of an inch in diameter. The catheter (is introduced) through the cervix and the nurse (is instructed) to turn on the suction machine, which is connected through clear plastic tubing to the catheter. What you will see is a pale yellow fluid the looks a lot like urine coming through the catheter into a glass bottle on the suction machine. This amniotic fluid surrounded the baby to protect her.

“With suction complete, look for your Sopher clamp. This instrument is about thirteen inches long and made of stainless steel. At one end are located jaws about 2 ½ inches long and about ¾ of an inch wide with rows of sharp ridges or teeth. This instrument is for grasping and crushing tissue. When it gets hold of something, it does not let go.

“A second trimester D&E abortion is a blind procedure. The baby can be in any orientation or position inside the uterus, and (using) the Sopher clamp and grasping anything you can. At twenty weeks gestation, the uterus is thin and soft so be careful not to perforate or puncture the walls. Once you have grasped something inside, squeeze on the clamp to set the jaws and pull hard – really hard. You feel something let go and out pops a fully formed leg about 4 to 5 inches long.

“Reach in again and grasp whatever you can. Set the jaw and pull really hard once again and out pops an arm about the same length. Reach in again and again with that clamp and tear out the spine, intestines, heart and lungs.

“The toughest part of a D&E abortion is extracting the baby’s head. The head of a baby that age is about the size of a plum and is now free floating inside the uterine cavity. You can be pretty sure you have hold of it if the Sopher clamp is spread about as far as your fingers will allow.

“You will know you have it right when you crush down on the clamp and see a pure white gelatinous material issue from the cervix. That was the baby’s brains. You can then extract the skull pieces. If you have a really bad day, like I often did, a little face may come out and stare back at you.”

Most researchers believe unborn children can feel pain by at least 20 weeks. Some research has shown fetal reaction to invasive procedures at 18 weeks, and there is a growing body of evidence that indicates fetal pain response at as little as 7-11 weeks development.

Below is a diagram (clean, compared to reality) of how a D&E abortion is performed. It is disturbing, but if our society is willing to permit such practices, our society should be willing to face the reality of that decision. (Click to enlarge the image)



Remember, this is what you are defending when you support abortion (I used to, but stopped when I learned the truth).

Remember, this is what you are condoning if you vote against Initiated Measure 11.