Partial Truth

Opponents of the partial-birth abortion ban recently took what would have been a death blow to any other political movement: Their leaders were recently exposed as liars. They lied to President Clinton when they said that only a few hundred of these gruesome procedures are carried out each year. In reality, many thousands are. They lied to the Congress when they said that women underwent these abortions to protect their own health. The truth is that most of these abortions are elective. And abortion leaders lied to you and me when they claimed that most of the babies killed by this procedure are defective. As abortion leader Ron Fitzsimmons recently admitted, the vast majority of these babies are perfectly healthy. Far from being embarrassed, the abortion lobby is—yes—telling even more lies. As the debate over partial-birth abortion heats up again, abortion supporters are again claiming that any bill banning this procedure needs a “health of the mother” provision. Now that sounds perfectly reasonable, except that it would gut the bill, because the term “health of the mother” has been defined in several court cases as “all factors—physical, emotional [and] psychological... relevant to the [patient’s] well-being.” A woman considering an abortion is going to be naturally stressed, and that’s a qualification—a mental health exception. Here’s why the “health of the mother” argument is the worst lie of all: Doctors with a group called Physicians’ Ad Hoc Coalition for Truth say that partial-birth abortion, far from protecting a woman’s health, can actually harm or even kill women. According to these doctors, this technique “can pose a significant and immediate threat to both the pregnant woman’s health and her fertility.” The procedure is an invitation to infection, massive bleeding, shock, or even death. President Clinton says he’ll veto the bill, and the abortion lobby is up in arms. Why are these folks—who supposedly care about the health of women—trying so hard to protect a procedure that may actually harm women? I’ll tell you why: It’s because they cannot and will not accept any law that implies any kind of moral judgment on abortion. You see, if you concede for one moment that human life has dignity, you run the risk that Americans will begin to focus less on “choice” and more on what is being chosen. That’s why abortion supporters fought so hard last year against congressmen even showing pictures of this gruesome procedure. They’re afraid that Americans might begin the long journey back to truth, back to civilization itself. Let’s never forget that what we’re really talking about is infanticide. We’re talking about a procedure that sucks out the brains of living, viable babies and then crushes their skulls. Allowing this atrocity to stand would be a death sentence—not just for thousands of babies, but for our civilization as well. Thomas Jefferson once said it well, “I tremble for my country when I recall that God is just.” We should tremble indeed for if we fail to turn back the atrocity of partial-birth abortion, we will deserve God’s judgment. By a vote of 295 to 136, the House passed the bill criminalizing late-term partial-birth abortion. The House voted 282 to 149 to reject “health of the mother” exceptions. As of this writing, the Senate has taken no action on the bill.

03/4/97