The Procedure
On Abortion
There are two types of abortion: medical and surgical. Medical abortions can be performed up to 9 weeks ga. and involve taking pills to induce a miscarriage. Surgical abortions use suction to remove the preborn child. The most common abortion procedures are as follows (you may like to refer to Fetal Development and note the child’s development at each stage):
Abortion pill (4-7 weeks ga.): The woman is given pills to kill the embryo. If this does not work, she is given a second drug to cause cramps and expel the embryo. The woman will experience cramps and bleeding.
Manual vacuum aspiration (up to 7 weeks ga.): The abortionist uses a thin tube, inserted into the uterus, and a syringe to suck out the embryo. The vacuum suction is weak, so the child is ripped apart slowly.
Suction curettage (weeks 6-14 ga.): The most common surgical abortion. An abortionist uses rods (or medication) to dilate the woman’s cervix in order to get their instruments through to the uterus. A tube is inserted into the uterus and is connected to a suction machine – the force of the suction is 10-20x that of a normal house vacuum. Baby does not come out whole, but is sucked out piece by piece – arms, legs, hands, etc. The abortionist may use a loop-shaped knife tool to scrape the remaining parts out of the uterus. They may then take the contents and piece back the body, to make sure all body parts have been removed and nothing is left in the mother.
Dilation and evacuation (weeks 13-24 ga.): A second trimester abortion. The preborn baby is too large for suction. An abortionist dilates the cervix (larger than previous) by inserting rods a least a day before the abortion. The mother is given anaesthesia for the pain, and a suction tube is used to remove the amniotic fluid surrounding the baby. Inserting forceps (i.e., a sopher clamp), the abortionist then twists, dismembers, and pulls out parts of the fetus – an arm, leg, etc. Because the head is larger (maybe the size of a plum), it is crushed, white material (i.e., brain) runs out of the cervix, and a rotating technique is employed to avoid cutting the woman upon removal. The abortionist then scrapes out any remaining tissue and assembles the baby’s parts on a tray, to determine if any part of the body is missing.
Dilation and extraction (from 20 weeks ga.): Like the previous method. Days are dedicated to dilating the cervix with various dilators. The abortionist uses ultrasound to locate the legs and begins to remove the fetus starting from the feet to the head. Scissors are inserted into the base of the skull, creating an opening for a suction tube to remove the brain. The skull collapses and is removed. This, and similar procedures, have also been termed a "partial-birth abortion."
Intracardiac injection abortion (from 25 weeks ga.): A third trimester abortion. The preborn baby is injected with a drug to cause cardiac arrest, usually killing it. Dilators are used to open the cervix so that the baby can be delivered. The baby is later checked, and if alive, is injected again. The woman will eventually have contractions and deliver a dead baby.
There are many stories of babies who survived abortion attempts and were left to die after being born - many without palliative care. Though data is limited, government figures from Queensland and Victoria show that hundreds of babies were born alive and left to die after an abortion, between 2010-2020 (396 in Victoria and 328 in Queensland).
Melissa Ohden is the product of a failed abortion. A toxic saline solution was injected into her mother’s uterus, intending to burn and poison the baby. When she was born alive, she was left to die – fortunately, a nurse heard the baby crying and rushed the child to the NICU. Melissa suffered severe respiratory problems, jaundice, and seizures – but she was eventually adopted out and today lives to speak out against abortion.
Abortion is often portrayed as a form of compassion. But nothing about the intentional butchering and destruction of a child in the womb is compassionate. If abortion was about compassion, doctors would not be leaving viable babies to die. Nothing about it is compassionate, and to suggest otherwise is truly depraved.