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(May 5, 2007)
Americans generally believe there are two sides to the abortion debate: pro-life and pro-choice. That is not actually true. In fact, there are two additional sides, pro-life, but and pro-choice, but. A pro-life, but individual believes, among other things, that abortion should only be performed to save the life or prevent significant morbidity of a mother; in cases of rape, incest or in some cases of serious fetal malformations. A pro-choice, but individual believes that abortion should be legal but with restrictions including, but not limited to, gestational age limits, parental consent, 24 hour waiting period, abortion for gender selection, and partial birth abortion. Surveys over the years have been consistent in noting that approximately 20% of Americans believe that once sperm penetrates egg and fertilization has occurred, life is created and must not be interfered with in any manner. This belief condemns abortion under any circumstance and labels an individual pro-life. Another 20% believe that women have an absolute right under any circumstance to choose if, when and how an abortion is to be performed. These individuals call themselves pro-choice. The remaining 60% Americans believe abortion should be legal with certain restrictions. It is this pro-choice, but / pro-life, but group of Americans who define much of our political debate on abortion. I was, therefore, not surprised when the Supreme Court recently upheld the ban on partial birth abortion. It is hard to come by accurate figures on how many partial birth abortions are performed each year but the number is quite small. In 2000, the Guttmacher Institute estimated that about 2,200 of the 1.3 million abortions were performed late in gestation, and since most of these were performed without using a partial birth abortion technique, the number may be as low as 500. Despite the fact that Vanderbilt University Hospital has offered and performed abortion for very ill mothers or seriously malformed fetuses since 1973, we have never performed a partial birth abortion. In fact, seven years ago, when I defended the ban in eight states around the country, I surveyed my Tennessee colleagues and discovered that they had never performed this procedure nor did they know of anyone in the state who had. A concern by pro-choice groups is that this ban will lead to a slippery slope that would prohibit other types of abortion. However, there should be no concern on this point. Justice Anthony Kennedy who authored the opinion, stated that only purposeful violations of the prohibition can be prosecuted and that the law covers only the deliberate, almost complete delivery of a living fetus, followed by a further intentional act that causes its death. He went on to write; "If either intent is absent, no crime is committed" even if the procedure unexpectedly proceeds in ways that physically constitutes a partial birth abortion. His statement puts this pro-choice concern to rest. Actually, the real issue does not concern partial birth abortion but rather the performance of any abortion by any technique late in gestation. What we really need is a ban on abortion after the stage of fetal viability has been reached. That would prohibit abortions after 22 weeks gestation. I believe that the Supreme Court's decision to uphold a ban on partial birth abortion will have no effect on a woman's right to choose or affect the life or health of a pregnant woman. Rather, it will sooth and comfort the 60% of Americans who find this procedure to be close to infanticide and extreme. In addition, it will calm the abortion debate since it represents a step in a direction in which pro-life, pro-life, but and pro-choice, but groups can find common ground. Now that a ban on partial birth abortion has been upheld, a majority of Americans are comforted and will only raise their collective voice once again if overturning Roe vs. Wade becomes a significant possibility. It turns out that upholding a ban on partial birth abortion is actually a good thing for 80% of Americans who want to keep abortion legal in some form in this country. |
