Politics of partial-birth abortion compelling element of new video

The Procedure is a professionally-produced, informative, and compelling account of the recent attempts to ban partial-birth abortion in the United States.

The 30-minute video is an excellent overview of the truth about the late-term abortion procedure, and the political controversy surrounding it south of the border, using key sources and experts to make its points.

Partial-birth, or D and X abortion, readers will recall, is an especially horrifying method of baby-killing, in which a child (usually in the fifth or sixth month of development, but also at even later stages) is pulled out of the uterus, feet first, until only the head remains in the birth canal. The back of the head is then punctured with a pair of surgical scissors, and the brain is sucked out by a suction tube. The dead child is then fully removed from the birth canal.

The video refutes the key arguments in defence of partial-birth abortion. Pro-abortion spokesmen claimed the procedure is used only rarely; yet the abortionist best known for using it, Martin Haskell, wrote that he himself had done so 700 times, and the Metropolitan Medical Associates abortuary in New Jersey reported committing 1,500 partial-birth abortions each year.

Pro-abortion spokesmen also claimed the procedure is used only when the mother's life or health is in grave danger, or when the child has a severe handicap; yet Haskell has indicated fully 80 per cent of partial-birth abortions are "elective" in his judgement.

The video also shows that, in fact, there are never medical grounds for partial-birth abortion, and that it actually jeopardizes a woman's health. It also shows the real reason abortionists choose this particular method of late-term abortion: it ensures a dead baby. Other late-term methods run the risk of killing the child only after he is fully born alive, which the law still calls murder.

Although The Procedure was produced before Virginia abortionist Ron Fitzsimmons admitted pro-abortion propaganda on partial-birth abortion was based on lies, and before the end of the controversy over legislation to ban the method, the video is nonetheless an excellent resource for all pro-lifers. The testimony of nurse Brenda Pratt Shafer, converted to the pro-life cause after assisting with a partial-birth abortion, is worth the price of the video alone.