Pro-choicers love to drag out stories of horrifically deformed babies to defend late-term abortion in particular.
Anencephaly is a fave- it's fatal, it's easily diagnosed with ultrasound (after about mid-pregnancy), and howwwww can you maaaaaake a pooooor wahmen carry a MONSTER like that to term only for it to die a miserable death?
But they never answer for me why abortion (killing the baby before birth then inducing contractions to facilitate delivery) is better for the woman than enrolling her in something like
perinatal hospice, where counselors and nurses help make sure that both the physical and psychological pain are addressed in the hospital.
Late term abortion procedure described
here.
1. Cervical dilation starts a couple days before the procedure. (Painful.)
2. "Most patients will be provided NSAIDs for pain management." (Ibuprofen)
3. "The rate of mortality following legal procedures in the US is 0.62 legal induced abortion-related deaths per 100,000 reported legal abortions. The strongest risk factor for mortality following abortion is increasing gestational age." (Not any safer than normal labor and delivery.)
The woman goes to the clinic and gets the dilating materials put in her cervix, then goes home. She comes back for the procedure and is discharged later that day to home, where she bleeds and has milk come in exactly like after a normal birth. They recommend stuffing cabbage leaves in the bra and binding the chest to stop the milk coming in.
Meanwhile the
birth plans for perinatal hospice talks about getting narcotics for pain relief and sedation to help sleep. It talks about what family you want present, and having a chaplain and counselor available for emotional and spiritual support. You experience the whole thing in a hospital where someone can monitor your bleeding and vital signs and provide IV pain relief. Counselors help with funeral arrangements.
How is this not more compassionate to a woman/couple experiencing such a loss, compared to throw back an ibuprofen and hold onto the rails so we can suck the baby's brains out and throw it in a bag?