Canada has no rules on late-term abortion. The US isn’t much better.

In Canada, a pregnant woman was hit by a car this month. Despite efforts to save her, Marie-Pier Gagné passed away. However, doctors did manage to deliver Gagné’s baby.

Legally, they could have killed her instead.

Canada has no rules on when an abortion can take place, and children aren’t necessarily protected even after they’re born. The Canadian government has admitted that between 2000 and 2009, at least four hundred ninety one babies were born alive during botched abortions. None survived. When members of parliament raised the possibility they had been murdered, the lawmakers were attacked.

Things aren’t much better in the US. There are no federal restrictions on when an abortion can take place; not all states impose one either. Some think late term abortions are only done out of medical necessity.

They’re not. New Mexico’s Southwestern Women’s Options will perform abortions at up to twenty seven weeks for women who didn’t realize how far along they were.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCX-tLqETpk]

What does that look like? Well, Dr. Anthony Levatino is an obstetrician-gynecologist who used to commit abortions. He’s done over twelve hundred of them, and in the video below, he explains how a third trimester abortion is done:

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5Af8vIym2o]

Day 1: To help ensure the baby will be delivered dead and not alive, the abortionist uses a large needle to inject digoxin or potassium chloride through the woman’s abdomen or vagina, targeting the baby’s heart, torso, or head. When the digoxin takes effect, the lethal dose causes a fatal cardiac arrest, and the baby’s life will end. (Even if the needle misses the baby, digoxin can still kill the baby when released into the amniotic sack, but will usually take longer to kill the child.)

During the same visit, the abortionist inserts multiple laminaria sticks, or sterilized seaweed, to open up the woman’s cervix.

Day 2: The abortionist replaces the laminaria and may perform a second ultrasound to ensure that the baby is dead. If the child is still alive, the abortionist administers a second lethal dose of digoxin or potassium chloride. During this visit, the abortionist may administer labor-inducing drugs.

The woman goes back to where she is staying while her cervix continues to dilate. The woman will usually wait a period of two to four days for her cervix to dilate enough for her to deliver the dead baby.

Day 3 or 4: The woman returns to the clinic to deliver her dead baby. If she goes into labor before she can make it to the abortion clinic in time, she will deliver her baby at home or in a hotel room. During this time, a woman may be advised to sit on a bathroom toilet until the abortionist arrives. If she can make it to the clinic, she will do so during her most heavy and severe contractions and deliver the dead baby.

For abortions done later in the second trimester, a technique called dilation and evacuation (D&E) is used:

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgw4X7Dw_3k]

After the amniotic fluid is removed, the abortionist uses a sopher clamp — a grasping instrument with rows of sharp “teeth” — to grasp and pull the baby’s arms and legs, tearing the limbs from the child’s body.

The abortionist continues to grasp intestines, spine, heart, lungs, and any other limbs or body parts. The most difficult part of the procedure is usually finding, grasping and crushing the baby’s head.

After removing pieces of the child’s skull, the abortionist uses a curette to scrape the uterus and remove the placenta and any remaining parts of the baby.

D&E abortions are performed at up to twenty four weeks. Evidence suggest a baby starts feeling pain at twenty.

If babies getting pulled apart doesn’t sit right with you, then demand legislation to protect pain-capable children. While you’re at it, call for stronger laws to protect abortion survivors as well. Because whether they’re in the womb or out, babies deserve to be defended.

Author’s Note: A crowdfunding page has been started to raise money for Gagné’s baby girl and her father.