Last week, Kansas passed a ban on dismemberment abortion —this week, its neighbor to the south, Oklahoma, followed suit. On Monday, Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin signed the Unborn Child Protection from Dismemberment Abortion Act, which passed the state House 84 to 2, and the state Senate 37 to 4. The law takes effect November 1.
The law makes dismemberment abortions illegal. These abortions, which are dilation and evacuation abortions (D&E), are performed in the second trimester. As National Right to Life notes, these abortions are extremely gruesome:
“Dismemberment abortions are as brutal as the partial-birth abortion method, which is now illegal in the United States.”
In Oklahoma, preborn babies will no longer be brutally killed in this manner. Similar legislation in Kansas has sparked national debate over the violence of dismemberment abortion procedures.
National Right to Life President Carol Tobias said, “The Unborn Child Protection from Dismemberment Abortion Act is starting to transform the debate about abortion policy in the United States. We applaud the efforts of our affiliate, Oklahomans For Life, and the pro-life commitment of the Oklahoma legislature and Governor Fallin in seeing this groundbreaking bill become law in the Sooner State.”
The pro-life organization added that the nation’s highest court has also highlighted the violence of dismemberment abortion procedures: “In his dissent to the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2000 Stenberg v. Carhart decision, Justice Anthony Kennedy observed that in dismemberment abortions, ‘The fetus, in many cases, dies just as a human adult or child would: It bleeds to death as it is torn limb from limb. The fetus can be alive at the beginning of the dismemberment process and can survive for a time while its limbs are being torn off.’”
Pro-life Oklahomans praised the governor for signing the bill, noting that the ban is a step in the right direction. Oklahomans For Life State Chairman Tony Lauinger made the following statement:
“Governor Mary Fallin is to be commended for her quick action in signing into law the Unborn Child Protection from Dismemberment Abortion Act, which will prohibit this barbaric inhumanity in our state. We appreciate, also, the exceptional leadership of Representatives Pam Peterson and Senator Josh Brecheen for spearheading the enactment of this landmark lifesaving legislation.”
Dismemberment abortions are known as such because they literally tear a preborn baby to pieces to remove him or her from the mother’s womb. In Kansas and Oklahoma, that won’t be happening. And many babies may live because of these laws. Priests for Life describes this brutal and torturous procedure:
A second trimester D&E abortion is a blind procedure. The baby can be in any orientation or position inside the uterus. Picture yourself reaching in with the Sopher clamp and grasping anything you can. At twenty weeks gestation, the uterus is thin and soft so be careful not to perforate or puncture the walls.
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.
The opposition from abortion advocates to dismemberment laws is not surprising, but remains troubling. When it takes that much effort to extract a baby, the reality of murder must be in the face of everyone seeing it.
