Trevor Frolek
At the Interfaith Alliance of Colorado, they celebrate birth. Specifically, “that moment when the nurse gently places the newborn baby into the arms of the exhausted but exuberant parent.” According to them, it’s among “the most joyful.” How about when a baby gets injected with a chemical to cause cardiac arrest and death?
Oh yeah, they’re fine with that moment too.
You’d think people who tout “the inalienable right to be treated equally” would have a problem with this. Well, they don’t. Rev. Amanda Henderson is the Interfaith Alliance of Colorado’s executive director, and when she was shown ultrasound images of a state representative’s twenty eight week-old daughter, Henderson described the child as “potential life.”
Rev. Henderson didn’t explain how a potential life could have a heartbeat, something that starts less than a month following conception. Neither did she explain how a potential life could feel pain, and there’s evidence a twenty week-old pre-born child does. Also unexplained was how potential lives could survive delivery; after all, children are considered viable at 24 weeks. Little Trevor Frolek (pictured right) was born before 24 weeks.
And yet, some abortions take place well after this point in gestation. Third trimester abortions typically use a technique known as induction. Dr. Anthony Levatino is an obstetrician-gynecologist who performed over 1200 abortions, and in the video below, he explains what it involves:
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.
Why are induction abortions done? In New Mexico, Southwestern Women’s Options will perform them at up to twenty seven weeks for women who didn’t realize how far along they were.
Still, folks at the Interfaith Alliance of Colorado aren’t bothered: they have a history of opposing laws to protect children in the womb. However, there are lives they will defend. In 2013, the group opposed executing Nathan Dunlap, a convicted killer who called his victims “nothing.”
If those priorities don’t seem right to you, then support legislation to protect pain-capable children. Because there are a lot of joyful moments in life; let’s make ending late-term abortion one of them.
