Hearing on H.R. 4292, the "Born Alive Infant Protection Act of 2000"
July 20, 2000
I am a Registered Nurse who has worked in the Labor & Delivery Department at Christ Hospital in Oak Lawn, Illinois, for the past five years. Christ Hospital performs abortions on women in their second or even third trimesters of pregnancy. Sometimes the babies being aborted are healthy, and sometimes they are not.
The method of abortion that Christ Hospital uses is called "induced labor abortion," also now known as "live birth abortion." This type of abortion can be performed different ways, but the goal always is to cause a pregnant woman's cervix to open so that she will deliver a premature baby who dies during the birth process or soon afterward. The way that induced abortion is most often executed at my hospital is by the physician inserting a medication called Cytotec into the birth canal close to the cervix. Cytotec irritates the cervix and stimulates it to open. When this occurs, the small, preterm baby drops out of the uterus, oftentimes alive. It is not uncommon for one of these live aborted babies to linger for an hour or two or even longer. One of them once lived for almost eight hours.
In the event that a baby is aborted alive, he or she receives no medical assessments or care but is only given what my hospital calls "comfort care." "Comfort care" is defined as keeping the baby warm in a blanket until he or she dies, although even this minimal compassion is not always provided. It is not required that these babies be held during their short lives.
One night, a nursing co-worker was taking an aborted Down's Syndrome baby who was born alive to our Soiled Utility Room because his parents did not want to hold him, and she did not have time to hold him. I could not bear the thought of this suffering child dying alone in a Soiled Utility Room, so I cradled and rocked him for the 45 minutes that he lived. He was 21 to 22 weeks old, weighed about ½ pound, and was about 10 inches long. He was too weak to move very much, expending any energy he had trying to breathe. Toward the end he was so quiet that I couldn't tell if he was still alive unless I held him up to the light to see if his heart was still beating through his chest wall. After he was pronounced dead, we folded his little arms across his chest, wrapped him in a tiny shroud, and carried him to the hospital morgue where all of our dead patients are taken.
Other co-workers have told me many upsetting stories about live aborted babies whom they have cared for. I was told about an aborted baby who was supposed to have Spina bifida but was delivered with an intact spine. Another nurse is haunted by the memory of an aborted baby who came out weighing much more than expected ~ almost two pounds. She is haunted because she doesn't know if she made a mistake by not getting that baby medical help. A Support Associate told me about a live aborted baby who was left to die on the counter of the Soiled Utility Room wrapped in a disposable towel. This baby was accidentally thrown into the garbage, and when they later were going through the trash to find the baby, the baby fell out of the towel and on to the floor.
I was recently told about a situation by a nurse who said, "I can't stop thinking about it." She had a patient who was 23+ weeks pregnant, and it did not look as if her baby would be able to continue to live inside of her. The baby was healthy and had up to a 39% chance of survival, according to national statistics. But the patient chose to abort. The baby was born alive. If the mother had wanted everything done for her baby, there would have been a neonatologist, pediatric resident, neonatal nurse, and respiratory therapist present for the delivery, and the baby would have been taken to our Neonatal Intensive Care Unit for specialized care. Instead, the only personnel present for this delivery were an obstetrical resident and my co-worker. After delivery the baby, who showed early signs of thriving, was merely wrapped in a blanket and kept in the Labor & Delivery Department until she died 2-1/2 hours later.
Something is very wrong with a legal system that says doctors are mandated to pronounce babies dead but are not mandated to assess babies for life and chances of survival. In other words, our laws currently say that babies have no rights to medical oversight until they are dead. We look the other way and pretend that these babies aren't human while they're alive but human only after they are dead. We issue these babies both birth and death certificates, but it is really only the death certificate that matters. No other children in America are medically abandoned like this.
Abortion is a cancer that is literally killing America. It is killing our children while it is killing our consciences. It began when we took God out of our decision-making and proclaimed that the little beings growing inside of women were "products of conception" and not little girls and little boys. Who should be surprised that we keep pushing the envelope so that now we are aborting these "products of conception" alive? I even work at a hospital named "Christ" that does this very thing! It is beyond me to comprehend that we're doing what we're doing now, and so I can't even imagine what horrible ways we will think of next to torture our children. Please help put an end to this by proclaiming infants as American human being homo sapiens with the same legal and medical rights that you and I big people have. Thank you.
Slipping and falling equals killing a baby? This is what abortion has done to our views of the sanctity of life. This poster also forgets that many many abortions are gotten by women and girls of affluent and middle class means.
Death is better off than the life that these people deem unacceptable? Maybe we should just kill these poor children after they are born after we assess their home life if their outlook is so utterly doomed.
That is what is so amazing to me.. that we have gotten to a point in our society where someone can equate slipping and falling with killing a baby...or a hip replacement to an abortion...no matter what your position is we all must agree that it does involve another life...that is a very important fact that I think keeps getting forgotten. I also wonder how many people that are militant with their pro-choice views have children of their own. Maybe it is a crazy asumption of mine, and forgive me if I am wrong but I am willing to bet not many have had children of their own.
I completely agree with you elkpark. I have never understood why conservative republicans always say they want to government out of our personal lives, until it comes to abortion. LOL! I just realized Owney, I could say I am a real conservative because I think the government should stay out of my bedroom, even on this issue;)
Tam, I don't have children of my own. But, considering my parents are pro-choice despite going through several miscarriages and finally adopting 2 children, I don't think that's what makes someone pro-choice or pro-life. I think it's the belief that our own personal beliefs should or should not apply to the rest of the population that determines that.
"This poster" has certainly not forgotten about affluent and middle-class women who seek abortion access. As I said, and this most definitely pertains to that segment of the female population, I feel that deciding that you are unwilling or unable to be a mother or complete the cycle of pregnancy is more than enough reason, all by itself, to have an abortion- no matter what socioeconomic class you belong to.
Thank you all for the thoughts to chew on. I'm politely stepping out of the conversation.
The post about Hitler being against abortion seemed wrong to me but I couldn't remember so I did a google search and came up with lots of info that he actually encouraged abortions, except for "Aryan" women with "pure" blood.
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But didn't Hitler oppose abortion?
Wrong! Hitler only opposed abortion for "pure blood" Aryan women. He allowed and even encouraged it for others. In an order to the SS, SD, and police on June 9, 1943, Reichskommisar Kaltenbrunner directed: "In the case of eastern female workers, pregnancy may be interrupted if desired." First, a racial exam was to be done and then, "If a racially valuable result is to be expected, the abortion is to be denied . . . if not valuable, the abortion is to be granted."
After the war, the War Crimes Tribunal indicted ten Nazi leaders for "encouraging and compelling abortion," which it considered a "crime against humanity." "Trials of War Criminals," Nuremberg Military Tribunal, Washington, DC; USGPO, vol. IV, p. 610
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Hitler and Abortion
When the Nazis came to power in 1933 one of the first acts Hitler did was to legalize abortion. By 1935 Germany with 65 million people was the place where over 500,000 abortions were being performed each year. Although Hitler and his government encourged Aryan women to produce a lot of children, he left the matter of abortion and all its facets in the hands of a decidely pro- abortion medical establishment. Even in the midst of Nazi propaganda aimed at increasing the Aryan population, scores of Aryan women still chose to abort their unborn children. The medical publication Deutsches Aerzleblatt reported the abortions in Germany each year reached a half-million.
Further, a Nazi decree of October 19, 1941 established abortion on demand as the official policy of Poland. Hitler, however, expressed dissatisfaction with this policy. Abortion, he believed, should NOT be limited to Poland. He therefore ordered that abortion be expanded to all populations under the control of the "Ministry of the Occupied Territories of the East."
On July 22, 1942, the Fuhrer exhibited a highly positive attitude towards abortion as an indispensable method of dealing with the non-German populations in countries under Nazi control. "In view of the large families of the native populations," he asserted, "it could only suit us if girls and women there had as many abortions as possible." Hitler also personally announced that he "would personally shoot" any "such idiot" who "tried to put into practice such an order (forbidding abortion) in the occupied Eastern territories.
Despite contemporary attempts to characterize Hitler as opposed to abortion, the historical evidence clearly and overwhelmingly supports only one possible conclusion: Hitler and his regime were adamantly pro-abortion. To depict Hitler as anti-abortion is a ludicrous as calling him anti-genocide or pro- Jewish. Both Hitler and his government had little regard for human life perceived as subpar, whether born or preborn.
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I guess its all in the semantics . . .he was pro-life for those he thought were worthy and pro-choice for those he considered flawed.
I hardly think Hitler should be used as a role model for anyone.
Hitler legally criminalized abortion when he came to power, strengthening penalties for abortion starting in 1934. In 1936, he formed an Office For Combating Homosexuality and Abortion. By 1943, Abortion was decreed a crime punishable by Death. As a general rule, the patient was treated as a traitor to Germany and the doctor was sentenced to the death penalty. Though abortion had been illegal in pre-Hitler Germany, enforcement became so rigorous that all doctors were required to report miscarriages to the government and investigate that they were not abortions.
Hitler was not alone in banning abortion, this was also done early on in the regimes of Stalin, Mussolini and more recently, Ceausescu. They also in most cases criminalized use of birth control. Obviously being antiabortion may not signify a deep commitment to human life and may merely be politically expediant.
You are right that Hitler mandated abortion for "the unfit" in 1934, along with mandatory sterilization, leading up to exterminization. But for his treasured Germans, abortion was a crime. Murder, robbery, and rape was also a crime for the German population, but obviously was "tolerated" when dealing with "the unfit" - it does not change the fact that they were legally crimes for what Hitler considered citzenry.
Mandatory abortion is obviously not "Prochoice".
You might also recall, in this Country, mandatory sterilization was practiced on some "classes" of people, especially in the 50's, 60's and early 70's (prior to legalization of abortion). Orphans were especially subjected to this unethical treatment.
Many regimes ban abortion because their beliefs regarding women and their place. Martin Luther (great protestant leader), as referenced in 1522 Yom Ebelichen ler(?), dismisses Birth control/abortion,"If they are tired and/or die through the bearing of children, that does not matter, let them die bearing fruit. That is why they are here." (not the most wholesome attitude to have about women - from a major religious leader)
The Third Reich also demonizes feminists and accused them of wanting to be men (Sound familiar?)
Initially, "Jesus" prayers were required in schools. These were highly regulated by the government. Later, they became altered to fit the politics/patroitism of the country and less about religion. (Sound familiar and a tad ominous).
Hitler was very antitobacco and banned smoking in most public buildings. (And I am sooooooo not going there).
Hitler believed that you could "cure" homosexuality through religion, re-education, castration, electric shock and injections of drugs. These were tested in the concentration camps.(Exodus, anyone?)
Hitler's National Socialist Movement posed tax penalties on singles, proposed loans for new families and gave medals to women that had many children.
Hitler banned books and censored "unwholesome" art (J.Ashcroft are you listening?)
"True idealism is nothing but the subordination of interests and life of the individual to the community....sacrifice of personal existance is necessary to secure the preservation of the species"
It sounds alot like some politicians (of both parties), but it is Mein Kampf from Hitler. (Patriot Act, anyone?)
Carolina
(crediting much of this information from the "Freethinker" and from the US Holocaust Museum. Also the interviews of Friedrich-Paul von Groszhern, an 88 year old gay holocaust survivor, that was subjected to castration as part of his "treatment". Also to interviews with Karl Gorohl, that was interned by the authority of German government due to being homosexual. After liberation, when gay men discussed being interned in concentration camps, they were rearrested and put in jail under the Sodomy Law 175 passed by Hitler's government in 1935. Herr Gorohl after being liberated was rearrested in 1949, for the crime of being homosexual)
Sorry, that was my fault. I said it wasn't really correct to call abortion murder as long as it is not against the law. Then someone pointed out that extermination camps were legal under Hitler... the rest is history;)
That is quite possibly the saddest thing I've ever heard. I'm 20 and last year my life was touched by an abortion.. since then I try not to "lecture" people my age, but just try to instill a sense of responsibility to have safe sex. I believe abortion is pro-life, not just pro-choice, because as sad as that story is I have seen, again- with my own eyes, children growing up in an unloved and impoverished environment, and others in foster care til the age of 18.
For some reason, I didn't really think of Partial Birth Abortions being like that- didn't realize the lack of care they recieve. God bless those little souls.
There's no silver lining on this issue at all. In many cases, every option is an extremely painful one.
I know I didn't touch on abortions for medical reasons, or older women having abortions, I've actually never been touched by either, so I can't say I have any experience with them.
I've actually thought about working in an Abortion clinic when I get my BSN, just because people make mistakes. And when, for instance, a teenager is pregnant, afraid, and emotional, and is told by everyone that considering an abortion is sinful and wrong, and that keeping it and raising it without an education, or putting it into a system.. it all just makes my heart hurt.
If I left anything out, or offended anyone, please don't attack me (you know what i mean- on the boards).
Are you simply not paying attention, or is your brain plugged in backwards? How can anyone possibly call abortions "pro life?"https://allnurses.com/forums/#
How can anyone, especially a nurse, who has been CALLED to preserve life, possibly feel that death is preferable?
Let me tell you about my friend Jen. Jen left Cambodia, emgirated here and went to medical school here. When I met him he was an Emergecy Medical resident. He saved my life.
I thought I was having hematuria at work one day so I took a sample to the STAT lab and one of my lab buddies told me innumerable red cell and occ leukos.
So I asked a coupla docs including Jen what to do and they said, "get worked up for renal calculis vs. bladder tumor." Since this was a Friday Evening, I knew that what I had could probably wait until Monday, I asked the docs what I should do. They said push fluids and be alert to flank pain, increasing hematuria or oliguria.
Over the weekend I had no more hematuria. I took some dipsticks and a urine strainer home with me. Monday morning Jen asks about me. I told him the hematuria had resolved. He asked me if I had a PMD appointment yet and I said no, but I intended to do so on my next day off. A week later Jen asked me again and I said no. He said, "Owney, this is important, we are talking about your life!" I did finally get worked up and guess what? A 1cm transitional cell carcinoma had taken up residence on my bladder wall!
This is how Jen saved my life by leaving his country, which no longer existed by the time he got out of medical school. If Jens mother would have seen that Pol Pot would murder everyone in her villiage and stack their skulls in the town square, she might have exercised her "choice" and aborted her son in order to "save" him from such carnage. That way both of us would be dead.
In order to illustrate what causes me to question humanity I must tell you another story. When I was a teenager I swatted a fly on the window sill. It did not die immediately. She took her last minutes to lay her eggs, even though maggots do not do well on a window sill she still made the effort to preserve her off spring. If a fly can cherish life, why can't humans?
I think you should work in an abortion clinic to get a better perspective on this issue. Actually, you might be better off becoming a lawyer. That way you can wait for all of those unfortunate turn 18 so that they can sue their mothers for wrongful birth. https://allnurses.com/forums/#
Unlike most pro lifers I believe in sex education for EVERYONE from birth including contraception. But here I go again, I must repeat that what differntiates me from most liberals is that I believe in a woman's right to choose from the time she is concieved.
I cannot BELIEVE Hitler was dragged into this thread!!!!!!!
Actually at some point in this, prochoicers were compared with Hitler. I objected to the comment as Hitler was very definitely antichoice and legally banned abortion and strengthened penalties for abortion. Then Stevielynn commented that Hitler mandated abortion (for the "unfit"by law) and permitted it for undesirables (as robbery, murder occurred to undesirables and also was not prosecuted). This however does not negate that he outlawed abortion along with many other things as a matter of law, to control women/the population. As such, Hitler was completely antichoice, and therefore the comparison was inappropriate.
I'm politely stepping out of the conversation.
tamrnmomof4
71 Posts
That is what is so amazing to me.. that we have gotten to a point in our society where someone can equate slipping and falling with killing a baby...or a hip replacement to an abortion...no matter what your position is we all must agree that it does involve another life...that is a very important fact that I think keeps getting forgotten. I also wonder how many people that are militant with their pro-choice views have children of their own. Maybe it is a crazy asumption of mine, and forgive me if I am wrong but I am willing to bet not many have had children of their own.