PBA202H: Abortion Methods
Goal: to understand the chemical and surgical abortion methods, so that we can verbally communicate the injustice to the culture, to convert pro-choicers and convict pro-lifers.
Mention that the pro-choice movement doesn't accurately explain what abortion is. See Planned Parenthood's website. Many people who identify as pro-choice don't know what abortion does to pre-born children.
Quick view: Abort73: Abortion Procedures
1st Trimester: Abortifacient Birth Control
abortifacient birth control https://reformedprolifer.com/articles-papers/item/what-you-need-to-know-about-birth-control & https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/drugsatfda_docs/label/2005/021690lbl.pdf
[Mandy, pharmacist friend]: “I remember listening to [a CCBR speaker] speak a few years ago and on that day it become so clear to me that the only rational way to define it is that life begins at the moment of fertilization. If you read the product information for any birth control pill, they may act in one of three ways 1) inhibit ovulation 2) thicken cervical mucus impeding sperm entry or 3) prevent implantation (by alterations to endometrium). So by that 3rd mechanism, it is essentially a potential abortifacient.”
Hormonal BC:
1. Prevents ovulation from occurring so no egg can be fertilized;
2. Prevents fertilization by thickening the cervical mucus to prevent sperm from reaching the egg in case ovulation does take place;
3. Thins the lining of the uterus so that a newly conceived human embryo will be unable to implant.
Contraception companies: redefine “conception” as implantation so that their hormonal BC won’t be considered abortifacient.
CCBR as a pro-life organization opposes anything that kills or endangers pre-born human beings. That’s why we reject hormonal birth control–the pill, IUDs, etc. all can cause the starvation and death of a young child.
1st Trimester: Medical Abortion
A medical (or chemical) abortion is a non-surgical form of abortion in which the woman takes pills containing Mifepristone (RU-486) and Misoprostol (or Cytotec) to end the life of the baby. This procedure is performed during the first trimester of pregnancy. The drugs are approved by the FDA for use up to ten weeks since the first day of her last menstrual period (LMP).
http://abortionprocedures.com/abortion-pill/
WNAL blog https://weneedalaw.ca/2020/04/the-abortion-pill-what-do-you-see-and-what-do-you-do/ ⬇️ Renate Klein, pro-choice activist, recommends surgical abortion over medical/chemical abortion because of the increased chance of the mother seeing her dead baby and becoming distressed.
“[Renate] Klein describes the 'profound difference' between the abortion pill and a surgical abortion as 'the likelihood with chemical abortion that women will actually see the expelled embryo in their sanitary pad or toilet, and although an embryo is still small at 7 or 9 weeks (1-1.5 cm), it is recognizable as the possibility of a child that has now ceased to exist.'… Klein goes on to cite a 1998 UK study which found that 'women who saw the foetus were most susceptible to psychological distress, including nightmares, flashbacks, and unwanted thoughts related to the procedure.'”
1st Trimester: Aspiration Abortion
A suction, or aspiration, D&C abortion is a procedure in which a suction catheter is inserted into the mother’s uterus to extract the preborn baby. Tools are then used to scrape the lining of the uterus to remove any remaining parts. This procedure is performed during the first trimester, typically during five and thirteen weeks LMP (that is five to thirteen weeks after the first day of the woman’s last menstrual period).
http://abortionprocedures.com/aspiration/
Testimony: “It's basically mutilation” https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=420660331889906
2nd trimester: Dilation and Extraction
A dilation (dilatation) and evacuation abortion, D&E, is a surgical abortion procedure during which an abortionist first dilates the woman’s cervix and then uses instruments to dismember and extract the baby from the uterus. The D&E abortion procedure is usually performed between thirteen and twenty-four weeks LMP (that is thirteen to twenty-four weeks after the first day of the woman’s last menstrual period).
http://abortionprocedures.com/
Abortion is so easy to ignore. It happens behind closed doors and is talked about in private places in hushed tones. I had slowly begun to see abortion for what it is and had become more active throughout the school year last year, but it wasn’t until the Abortion Awareness Project in Florida this year that I was truly convicted about the gruesome reality of what is happening in our country. I saw a pair of forceps that had been created for the sole purpose of ripping apart a child, and I knew that I was no longer ignorant, and bliss was no longer an option. - Ellie Vogel1)
3rd trimester: Induction Abortion
A third trimester induction abortion is performed at 25 weeks LMP (25 weeks since the first day of the woman’s last period) to term. At 25 weeks, a baby is almost fully-developed and is considered viable, meaning he or she could survive outside the womb. For this reason, the abortionist will usually first kill the baby in utero by injecting a substance that causes cardiac arrest, and induces the mother’s labor to deliver her baby stillborn.
http://abortionprocedures.com/induction/
Testimony - pro-choice woman - described 3rd trimester abortion to her, “That's horrific” See also: https://www.bpas.org/abortion-care/abortion-treatments/the-abortion-pill/feticide/
partial birth abortions?
clarify that some of these procedures are used when a woman has a miscarriage, if the child's body is not expelled naturally. Many pro-abortion people will falsely claim that pro-life laws prohibit a D&C after a miscarriage, for instance. Clarify that although the procedure might be the same, there is obviously a very big moral difference because with a miscarriage, the child is already dead. Example from secular pro-life - it's like the difference between the cremation of a dead body, versus setting a living human on fire. And clarify that pro-life laws do not prohibit using these procedures for miscarriage management.
Summary
External Resources
- Stephanie Gray's vocal description at Holy Trinity
- Gregg Cunningham: Hard Truth