The news in the past few months has covered quite a spectrum of Pro-Life issues. New ultrasound technology has shown unborn children smiling in their mothers’ wombs, clearly affirming the humanity of our unborn children. When people are able to visualize the unborn child (especially as the child grows more developed in the second and third trimesters), they recognize the brutality of the most severe abortion procedures. Federal legislation may soon ban Partial-Birth Abortion throughout the country, yet some of the ardent pro-abortionists will fight the banning of even this grotesque procedure. Recently, we were reminded of the hazards caused by abortion procedures that do not garner such levels of disgust from the public. One young teenager in California just died after being prescribed the RU 486 abortion pill. Pro-Lifers still have much work to do. We must recognize the advances, but continue to promote life-affirming alternatives to abortion (both for the mom and the baby).
Please read this issue of the Pro-Life Update carefully to understand some of the challenges we now face and how you, as a Pro-Life activist, can help advance the Culture of Life. Please share this information with your family, friends and church congregations. Make copies. Spread the news. Teenager Dies after Taking RU 486 Pill at Planned Parenthood
Eighteen-year-old Holly Patterson died on September 17, 2003, just four days after taking the RU 486 abortion pill prescribed by Planned Parenthood. Holly was seven weeks pregnant when she was given the abortion pill; the Federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommends that this human pesticide not be given beyond this 49-day period of pregnancy.
The California legislature’s Reproductive Privacy Act, passed just last year, allows non-physicians to provide drug-induced abortions, and investigators have yet to determine if a physician was involved in any part of Holly’s chemical abortion (assessment, administration, or supervision). Holly was given the first pill, Mifepristone, on September 10. The following day Holly experienced excruciating pain and was unable to walk. Her boyfriend brought her to the Valley Care Medical Clinic where Holly was given painkillers and then released. On September 16, she returned to the hospital, where she died the next day.
Holly’s father, Monty Patterson, did not know that she was pregnant until he saw her in the hospital. Mr. Patterson said, “The doctor told me that she hadn’t aborted all of the fetus, and she had fragments left in her, and she had a massive systemic infection and went into septic shock.” Because Holly was eighteen, her father was left in the dark about her procedure.
Despite such dangers, abortion supporters continue to promote the safety of RU 486. The National Abortion Federation’s Eric Schaff told the press that studies had shown that this abortion drug could be used “very safely” up to two weeks after the FDA-prescribed cut-off date. This is not the first death from RU 486 since the potent drug was approved in September 2000: two other women have already died, prompting the FDA to issue warning letters to physicians.
Mr. Patterson acknowledged, “The medical community treats this as a simple pill you take, as if you’re getting rid of a headache. The procedure, the follow-ups, it’s all too lackadaisical. The girl gets the pill. Then she’s sent home to do the rest on her own. There are just too many things that can go wrong.” Too many things went wrong with Holly. Ultrasounds Show Unborn Baby Smiling
With the recent advent of the 3D ultrasound, doctors and parents are able to see far more details about the unborn child than ever was thought possible. Recent 3D ultrasounds of babies 26-34 weeks after conception show the children smiling in their mothers’ womb. Other ultrasounds have shown babies blinking, sucking their fingers, scratching their noses, hiccupping, and crying.
Until seeing these pictures, doctors did not think that children made these expressions until after birth, believing that children learned to smile by imitating their parents. This new technology will help doctors answer questions that they have never been able to address.
Professor Stuart Campbell, who pioneered the 3D ultrasound in Britain, asks, “Does the fetus smile because it is happy, or cry because it has been disturbed by some event in the womb? Why does a fetus blink when we assume it’s dark inside the uterus?”
Campbell acknowledges, “The bond between parents and baby is enormous.” Today’s technology makes the humanity of the unborn child more clear. U.S. House Approves Partial-Birth Abortion Ban
On October 2, 2003, the U.S. House of Representatives gave final approval to the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act (S. 3) by an overwhelming vote of 281-142. According to Doug Johnson, legislative director for the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC), “This bill puts a spotlight on the brutal violence that premature infants suffer every day because of Roe v. Wade.”
Based on the results of numerous past roll calls, the bill is likely to pass with support of about 64 or 65 of the 100 U.S. Senators. President Bush has already stated that he is eager to sign a Partial Birth Abortion Ban. Still, some Democratic senators, including Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA), reportedly are fighting for more debate before allowing a final vote in the Senate. In the Conference Committee hearing on the ban, Sen. Boxer offered three weakening amendments, all of which were soundly defeated. Despite this, Sen. Boxer will continue to use stall tactics and other political tricks to sabotage this bill, potentially delaying final Senate approval.
“President Clinton and a minority of senators, mostly Democrats, blocked enactment of the partial-birth abortion ban for eight years, and now it appears that Democratic senators will obstruct the bill for additional weeks,” said NRLC’s Johnson.
