Supreme Court's Partial Birth Abortion Ban is Misleading
Last month's abortion ruling threatens women's reproductive rights
By: Carol Rojas
Issue date: 5/10/07 Section: Opinion
"Partial birth abortion" is not a medical term. This past April, however, the term did not stop the U.S. Supreme Court from upholding a federal ban on a wide range of medical procedures that fall under the vague text used in the Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003.
Dr. Douglas Laube, the president of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists says the term is meant to provoke people.
"The term 'partial-birth abortion' was purposely contrived to be inflammatory," said Dr. Laube, on the ACOG Web site.
"While proponents of this law say that it addresses a particular procedure, it has been specifically written to describe and encompass elements of other procedures used in obstetrics and gynecology."
That's probably why so many medical organizations including the ACOG, the American Medical Student Association and the California Medical Association among others oppose the ban.
Contrary to what proponents of the measure might have you believe, the ban is not about abortions that occur in the third trimester.
According to the Planned Parenthood Web site, 40 states and the District of Columbia already ban third-trimester abortions except when the life or health of the woman is at stake.
Instead, the law's broad language bans safe abortions that take place as early as 12 to 15 weeks without any exception to protect the health of the woman.
Furthermore, the ban would have you believe that pregnant women sit around lazily, and irresponsibly, putting off their decision to have an abortion to the very last minute. That is simply not the case.
In fact, according to the Center for Disease Control, 58 percent of abortions occur within the first eight weeks of conception, and 88 percent are performed within the first 12 weeks. Less than one half of one percent occur after 24 weeks.
The bigger question here is not whether partial birth abortion should be legal because as we all understand by now, there is no such thing. The question is, should women have
Dr. Douglas Laube, the president of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists says the term is meant to provoke people.
"The term 'partial-birth abortion' was purposely contrived to be inflammatory," said Dr. Laube, on the ACOG Web site.
"While proponents of this law say that it addresses a particular procedure, it has been specifically written to describe and encompass elements of other procedures used in obstetrics and gynecology."
That's probably why so many medical organizations including the ACOG, the American Medical Student Association and the California Medical Association among others oppose the ban.
Contrary to what proponents of the measure might have you believe, the ban is not about abortions that occur in the third trimester.
According to the Planned Parenthood Web site, 40 states and the District of Columbia already ban third-trimester abortions except when the life or health of the woman is at stake.
Instead, the law's broad language bans safe abortions that take place as early as 12 to 15 weeks without any exception to protect the health of the woman.
Furthermore, the ban would have you believe that pregnant women sit around lazily, and irresponsibly, putting off their decision to have an abortion to the very last minute. That is simply not the case.
In fact, according to the Center for Disease Control, 58 percent of abortions occur within the first eight weeks of conception, and 88 percent are performed within the first 12 weeks. Less than one half of one percent occur after 24 weeks.
The bigger question here is not whether partial birth abortion should be legal because as we all understand by now, there is no such thing. The question is, should women have
Multi
The Archives
Be the first to comment on this story