Religion: September 2007 Archives
Background: From the Guttmacher Institute (the CDC asserts that this institute has the most complete/accurate abortion info):
- 49% of pregnancies among American women are unintended; 1/2 of these are terminated by abortion. 24% of all pregnancies (excluding miscarriages) end in abortion.
- Each year, 2 out of every 100 women aged 15-44 have an abortion; 48% of them have had at least one previous abortion.
- 54% of women having abortions used a contraceptive method during the month they became pregnant. 76% of pill users and 49% of condom users reported using the methods inconsistently, while 13% of pill users and 14% of condom users reported correct use.
- The risk of death associated with childbirth is about 11 times as high as that associated with abortion.
According to the American Medical Association:
The term 'partial birth abortion' is not a medical term. The AMA will use the term "intact dilatation and extraction" (or intact D&X) to refer to a specific procedure comprised of the following elements: deliberate dilatation of the cervix, usually over a sequence of days; instrumental or manual conversion of the fetus to a footling breech; breech extraction of the body excepting the head; and partial evacuation of the intracranial contents of the fetus to effect vaginal delivery of a dead but otherwise intact fetus. This procedure is distinct from dilatation and evacuation (D&E) procedures more commonly used to induce abortion after the first trimester.
According to Warren M. Hern, M.D., M.P.H., Ph.D. testifying before the Judiciary Committee of the United States Senate 17 November 1995:
While about 1% of all abortions are performed after about 20 weeks of pregnancy, only about .03%, or fewer than 500, are performed after 26 weeks. The majority of these are now performed by me or one of my medical colleagues. These abortions are almost always performed for the most tragic reasons of severe fetal anomaly, genetic disorder, or immediate risk to the woman's life. They are not performed for frivolous reasons, contrary to statements by those opposed to abortion.
According to gentlebirth.org, on Nov. 29, 2005, the LA Times published an article by Stephanie Simon called "Offering Abortion, Rebirth" in the "Start Page: A.1 Section: Main News; Part A; National Desk". In order to read the actual article I'd have to pay the LA Times, so instead I'll rely on this extract posted in the Midwife Archives:
According to Dr. William F. Harrison, a diplomate [sic] of the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology:
Approximately 1 in 2000 fetuses develop hydrocephalus while in the womb. Usually not discovered until LATE in the second trimester, it is not unusual for the fetal head to be as large as 50 centimeters (nearly 20 inches) in diameter and may contain ... close to two gallons ... of cerebrospinal fluid. (The average *adult* skull is about 7 to 8" in diameter.)
Dr. Harrison says the partial birth and the "draining" of the fetus' skull is actually drawing off of this fluid from the brain area of the fetus. The collapsing of the fetal skull is to allow the removal without the brutal rupturing of a woman's uterine passage or necessitating a classic cesarean section that poses its own dangers to a woman and any future pregnancies. The fetus with severe hydrocephalus cannot live and we wish someone would let people like Ralph Reed, Orin Hatch, Pat Robertson, and Pope John Paul II know that they are condemning women to death for no reason - no reason except their damned puny male egos.
Approximately 500 women face this procedure each year. Mild to moderate hydrocephalus can be sometimes be treated in utero and the fetus saved, and some very mild cases can be delivered and treated after birth. Those which have advanced or severe hydrocephalus cannot. Without the "partial birth" abortions, their births can easily kill their mothers with no chance of fetal survival.
"The only tyrant I accept in this world is the still voice within." Mohandas Karamchand (Mahatma) GANDHI
Bumper stickers that caught my eye:
"I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it."
"Ever stop to think and forget to start again?"
Fun Facts to know and share:
As cowboys sat around in saloons in the latter part of the 19th century, they often played poker. To reduce cheating, the deal would change hands and the next in line to deal would be given a marker. This marker was often a knife which often had buck-horn handles; hence the marker becoming known as a buck. When the dealer's turn was done he 'passed the buck'. Silver dollars were later used as markers and this is probably the origin of the use of buck as a slang term for dollar.
