In the last few years, conservatives who are passionate about the pro-life cause have finally gotten savvier in reducing the number of abortions in their states. They have done it by way of strategic legislation which, for example, encourages abortion providers like Planned Parenthood to measure up to health standards, or bans abortions past certain gestation periods.
Texas has especially led the way in this approach. And its newest law, which will become effective Sept. 1, is an example of that. Yet its critics remain ever angry and belligerent over any attempts to curb or regulate abortion.
Gov. Greg Abbott signed SB 8 into law last month, “relating to certain prohibited abortions and the treatment and disposition of a human fetus…” The bill bans “partial-birth” and “dilation and evacuation” (D & E) abortions” even though the former is already banned under federal law. It also includes restrictions and guidelines regarding fetal burial requirements. A bill with such tight restrictions on a legal procedure is not unusual for a conservative state like Texas. What does seem more abnormal is the critics’ response to the measures included.
One detractor of the bill called it “cruel.” While it’s unclear which part of the bill seemed cruel to this critic, it’s an irony which can’t be overstated: Research has repeatedly shown that infants feel pain in utero. This opinion piece calls the bill “cruel” and “irresponsible” and says the D & E is “far and away the safest and most common form of abortion, and its prohibition will directly lead to deaths among pregnant women seeking abortions.”
Dr. Tony Levatino is an OB/GYN who used to perform abortions. Here’s his description of a D&E (dilation and evacuation) procedure.
Once you have grasped something inside, squeeze on the clamp to set the jaws and pull hard – really hard. You feel something let go and out pops a fully formed leg about 4 to 5 inches long. Reach in again and grasp whatever you can. Set the jaw and pull really hard once again and out pops an arm about the same length. Reach in again and again with that clamp and tear out the spine, intestines, heart, and lungs.
The toughest part of a D&E abortion is extracting the baby’s head. The head of a baby that age is about the size of a plum and is now free floating inside the uterine cavity. You can be pretty sure you have hold of it if the Sopher clamp is spread about as far as your fingers will allow. You will know you have it right when you crush down on the clamp and see a pure white gelatinous material issue from the cervix. That was the baby’s brains. You can then extract the skull pieces. If you have a really bad day like I often did, a little face may come out and stare back at you.
So, now, what seems more “cruel?” Banning this procedure so a baby who can feel pain doesn’t have to endure this? Or requiring doctors to abort him or her in a different way?
The Texas law also requires that the aborted baby’s remains be disposed of in a respectful manner. Again, critics dubbed this “childish immaturity” which “once more prioritizes unborn fetuses above adult women and forces already strained abortion providers to devote funds to performing needless, symbolic gestures aimed at honoring a life that never inarguably existed.”
In essence, this Texas law recognizes the humanity of the unborn. All lawmakers in the state of Texas are doing is honoring a life that was deliberately extinguished in a way the state is currently powerless to stop. They are also looking after public health in the same way all states do when regulating the handling of human remains in all other contexts.
Critics don’t like that because as soon as people start thinking about aborted unborn life in such a way, it might start to spread. At the very least, it makes the case for the fact that abortion is murder and babies are babies, born or unborn.
As the saying goes, if you’re getting flak you’re hitting the mark: Texas lawmakers and Gov. Abbott should be praised for honoring life and attempting to reduce the number of abortions, in spite of critics’ outrage.
Nicole Russell is a contributor to the Washington Examiner’s Beltway Confidential blog. If you would like to write an op-ed for the Washington Examiner, please read our guidelines on submissions here.
