Whispers in the Wasteland

What happens to the baby?

Mark Shea complains about our Robed Masters ruling on PBA.
I decided to use a different tack in his comments box:

Lemme see here. There's these Partial Birth Abortion bans which are deemed unconstitutional cause there's no exception for the health of the mother.

Step 1: Baby is part way out. (Acceptable risk in PBA procedure)
Step 2: Pull baby all the way out. (Thereby reducing the risk in PBA procedure)
Problem solved!

Obviously, I ain't a Doctor or Jurist, 'cuz the preceding just ain't complicated enough.

I are too stoopid to be doctor or judge.

Well that didn't work out too well. Aaron Butler took it too literally, and pointed out that if you pulled on the partially born baby it's head would pop off ["The other option (as opposed to crushing the skull) is to keep pulling until the baby's head pops off"]. Wow. And somehow he confused my statement with Seamus's following post.I reply

Aaron/Artist,

You wrote to Seamus: Contrary to what you seem to think, it's impossible to just pull the whole fetus out alive in this situation.

Hey! Give credit where credit is due. I'm the only stoopid person to use the verb "pull" in this comment box (other than your follow up comments). Please don't attach the word to Seamus.

What's in dispute is whether PBA is the most healthy option for the mother. This doctor says that's highly doubtful.

What's not in dispute is whether this is the most healthy option for the baby.

Josephine, a mother of five, follows up to point out that a baby's head does not pop off, and that a baby's shoulders are more difficult than the baby's head during labor.

What I find amazing is the insistence that PBA is a legitimate procedure that requires the death of the baby (instead of simply removing the baby) for the sake of the mother's heath. That dog won't hunt.

Posted by Bob at February 5, 2004 08:36 AM