Britain has very permissive abortion laws. An article in the Sunday Times raises a bunch of interesting issues about the practice over there. Link. The same issues apply over here. Excerpts:
A government agency is launching an inquiry into doctors' reports that up to 50 babies a year are born alive after botched National Health Service abortions. . . .
For the abortion of younger foetuses, labour is induced by drugs in the expectation that the infant will not survive the birth process. Guidelines say that doctors should ensure that the drugs they use prevent such babies being alive at birth.
In practice, according to Stuart Campbell, former professor of obstetrics and gynaecology at St George's hospital, London, a number do survive.
“They can be born breathing and crying at 19 weeks' gestation,” he said. “I am not anti-abortion, but as far as I am concerned this is sub-standard medicine.” . . .
I don't really understand this. If the baby is crying when it comes out, can't you just crush its skull with whatever implement is handy (like a shoe)? Anyway:
Abortion on demand is allowed in Britain up to 24 weeks – more than halfway through a normal pregnancy and the highest legal limit for such terminations in Europe. France and Germany permit “social” abortions only up to the 10th and 12th weeks respectively.
Doctors are increasingly uneasy about aborting babies who could be born alive. “If viability is the basis on which they set the 24-week limit for abortion, then the simplest answer is to change the law and reduce the upper limit to 18 weeks,” said Campbell, who last year published a book showing images of foetuses' facial expressions and “walking” movements taken with a form of 3-D ultrasound. . . .
It is not known how many babies who survive attempted abortions go on to live into adulthood.
Paul Clarke, a neonatal intensive care specialist in Norwich, has treated a boy born at 24 weeks after three failed abortion attempts. The mother decided to keep the child, who is now two years old but is suffering what doctors call “significant ongoing medical problems”.
“The survival of this child was not recorded in any official statistics,” Clarke said. “There is nothing at the moment to force abortion practitioners to account for their failures.”
The issue will be highlighted by Gianna Jessen, 28, who survived an attempt to abort her. She is to speak at a parliamentary meeting on December 6 organised by the Alive and Kicking campaign, which is lobbying for a reduction of the abortion limit to 18 weeks. . . .
