After Abortion: Born Alive, Abortion Survivors Speak Up For Those Who Can’t

Norma McCorvey was the plaintiff in the 1973 Supreme court ruling Roe v. Wade, which made abortion legal within the United States. Referred to as Jane Roe, McCorvey was a young pregnant woman who wished for an abortion. During the lengthy trial, she ended up giving her child up for adoption instead.

The New York Times reported that after winning the case in the Supreme court, McCorvey changed her stance on abortion. She claimed that she had been “used and exploited” by the women’s movement and the Supreme Court of the United States to bring abortion to America. She spoke with many women after abortion and spent her later adult years fighting to overturn the Roe v. Wade ruling. She died at the age of 69 on Saturday, February 18.

Since the initial Roe v. Wade ruling, approximately 50 million abortions have been reported in the United States. Revisions, which impose restrictions to abortion practices, have been made over the years. According to an analysis by Guttmacher Institute, the number of abortions has decreased over the past few decades.

“When women have access to a broad method mix that includes highly effective methods. They can choose the method that is best suited for them. This reduces their risk of unintended pregnancy and leads to better health outcomes for women and their families.”

The decline, across all demographic groups, in abortion statistics is primarily due to an increase in contraceptive usage. That being said, the CDC claims “that states and areas voluntarily report data to the CDC for inclusion in its annual Abortion Surveillance Report,” meaning that the known statistics actually read lower than the actual occurrence of abortion practices.

Declining or not, the topic of abortion, or after abortion effects, is so controversial that disagreements can soon turn into heated arguments. Regardless of the personal position you take on abortion, there’s one fact that is completely irrefutable. Speaking primarily of later-term abortions, the practice is a major surgical procedure. Like any other procedure, abortion can fail. The difference here is that a failed abortion results in the birth of a premature, yet live, baby.

In 1977, Melissa Ohden’s mother chose to abort her through a saline abortion at seven months gestation. During a saline abortion, the womb is filled with saline, surrounding the fetus. The solution burns the baby to death, which can take hours. Melissa was delivered after abortion, and her body was left for dead. On her website, Melissa says that her life was saved when a nurse heard her cries. In the following video, Melissa tells her story.

https://youtu.be/I4WJIvbEdWk

Another survivor of a saline abortion procedure is Gianna Jesson, who recently spoke to congress about the occurrence of infanticide through failed or botched abortions, or partial birth abortions, which still occur in America today. She told congress the following.

“Many Americans have no idea that babies can even live through abortions and are often left to die. But this does happen. I know this because I was born alive in an abortion clinic after being burned in my mother’s womb for 18 hours. Apart from Jesus himself, the only reason I am alive is the fact that the abortionist had not yet arrived at work that morning. Had he been there, he would have ended my life by strangulation, suffocation or simply leaving me there to die. Instead, I lived and have the gift of cerebral palsy as a direct result of lack of oxygen to my brain while surviving an abortion.”

In an interview with Glenn Beck, Gianna spoke of, after having been meant to die through abortion, the traumatic event of meeting her birth mother for the first time.

Saline abortions still occur in today’s practices. The CDC reports the mortality rate of babies born alive after abortion procedures have taken place. As found in the FRC blog, The report states that a majority of babies, who were born of failed abortions lived anywhere from one to four hours without medical care intervention. Some babies who were born alive reportedly lived for one day or more. We already know that this is an underestimate since these are only the reported figures, which are undeniably lower than the actual number.

Another abortion survivor, Claire Culwell, was the survivor of a successful abortion. Claire’s biological mother became pregnant at 13-years-old. Due to her young age and economic issues, Claire’s mother had an abortion. A few weeks later, she was still experiencing pregnancy symptoms and went back to the clinic that performed her abortion. It was then that she found out that she was, in fact, still pregnant. The abortion had only been successful in eliminating the first in a set of twins. Because of the damage that was done to the amniotic sac, Claire’s mother delivered her second baby two weeks later and gave her up for adoption. Today, she spends her time advocating for pro-life, and “speaking for those who cannot speak for themselves.”

In 2002, President Bush signed the Born-alive Law. This law recognizes babies, who are alive at birth after an attempted abortion, as legal persons. Currently in legislation is the proposed Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act, which was written to ensure that those infants who are born alive after an attempted abortion will be given medical care intervention, such as an incubator or ventilator.

The bill also enforces criminal sanctions that hold abortionists accountable for ending the life of a born-alive baby. The bill excludes prosecution of the mother, but gives her the right to seek criminal charges against an abortionist who kills her baby, should it be born alive. Due to the vast developments in medical technology, extremely preterm babies born as early as 20 weeks gestation now have a 67 percent survival rate.

According to a report compiled by the Charlotte Lozier Institute, the United States is one of seven countries that allow abortions to take place after 20 weeks. After hearing the new evidence that suggests a fetus can feel pain, President Donald Trump emphatically stated that he would ban late-term abortions that occur after 20 weeks gestation.

The #MarchForLife is so important. To all of you marching — you have my full support!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 27, 2017

The Daily signal ascertained that the election of President Trump means that the last word on abortion will not belong to Obama or the Democratic party in general. As a candidate, President Trump promised that he would de-fund planned parenthood and enforce the Hyde amendment, which prohibits federal tax-payers money from being used for abortions. President Trump did, however, state that abortion would remain legal and funded for women who’s health is in danger, or in cases of rape or incest.

The Late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia wrote that during and after abortion “the method of killing a human child is so horrible that most clinical description of it evokes a shudder of revulsion.” Donald Trump promised to appoint pro-life justices, like Scalia, to the Supreme Court. During his short time in office, President Trump is already making good on his promises.

[Featured Image by Jennifer Swarthout]