American politicians target “partial-birth” abortions
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* Milan Korcok

Passage of legislation to ban “partial-birth” abortion procedures has ignited fears that women's access to abortion in the United States is in danger of being rolled back for the first time in 30 years.

The ban, approved by wide margins in the House and Senate, is expected to be signed into law by President George Bush. He says it will “help build a culture of life in America.” Bush's predecessor, Bill Clinton, vetoed a similar bill.

The legislation is aimed at some abortion methods used in the second and third trimester. It outlaws “deliberately and intentionally vaginally [delivering] a living fetus … for the purpose of performing an overt act that the person knows will kill the partially delivered living fetus.”

The House bill described partial-birth abortion as a procedure “in which a physician delivers an unborn child's body until only the head remains inside the womb, punctures the back of the child's skull with a sharp instrument and sucks the child's brains out before completing delivery of the dead infant.”

The legislation worries the American Civil Liberties Union, which says “the term ‘partial-birth’ abortion does not identify any particular abortion procedure. It is a term invented by antichoice activists.”

Kate Michelman, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, described it as “a broad, unconstitutional bill which sacrifices women's health and future fertility on the altar of extreme right-wing ideology.”

Opponents are encouraged that the Supreme Court struck down a similar law in Nebraska because it did not define the procedure precisely enough and failed to allow an exception in cases involving the mother's health. Proponents say those concerns have been addressed.

The American Medical Association, which calls the procedure “intact dilatation and extraction,” recommends that it “not be used unless alternative procedures pose materially greater risk to the woman.”

Regardless, “the physician must … retain the discretion to make that judgement … acting in the best interests of the patient.”

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists agrees. “The patient and physician, not legislators, are the appropriate parties to determine the best method of treatment.”

There are no legal prohibitions against partial-birth abortions in Canada. — *Milan Korcok*, Florida

![Figure1](http://www.cmaj.ca/https://www.cmaj.ca/content/cmaj/169/2/140.2/F1.medium.gif)

[Figure1](http://www.cmaj.ca/content/169/2/140.2/F1)

Figure. **The abortion issue: a constant in American politics** Photo by: Canapress