Nearly 13,000 late-term abortions annually is a national disgrace

 Wednesday night’s presidential debate set off a firestorm of confused and misleading remarks regarding late-term abortions in America.  

{mosads}Despite the misinformation being spread among some media outlets following the debate,  abortion into the ninth month is legal under federal law. According to the CDC, almost 13,000 late-term abortions happen in the U.S. annually. This means that every year, thousands of children who are fully developed and would be viable outside the womb are being aborted.

Hillary Clinton, defending her position on brutal late-term and partial-birth abortions, stated in the debate, “The kinds of cases that fall at the end of pregnancy are often the most heartbreaking, painful decisions for families to make,” referring to situations where she claims mothers’ health or lives are at risk or the children have some fetal anomaly.

The first problem with Clinton’s claim is that research published by the pro-abortion Guttmacher Institute found that abortions for fetal abnormalities “make up a small minority” of late-term abortions, and those that are purported to be done to save the mother’s life are an even smaller number.

Even more problematic for Clinton, over 1,000 medical professionals have concluded that abortion is never medically necessary to save a mother’s life.  While a life-saving treatment for a mother may result in the death of her preborn child, that treatment’s purpose is not to kill the baby. For example, removing a mother’s fallopian tube in the case of an ectopic pregnancy, or inducing labor later in pregnancy to achieve better outcomes for both baby and mother is not abortion.

Not being able to save someone because we lack the technology to do so is entirely different from intentionally killing them. Abortion is an intentional killing, and that is always a grave injustice.

It’s also disconcerting that Clinton would use the debate to advocate the “right” to kill preborn children with disabilities at the same time millions are celebrating the lives of people with Down Syndrome during this Down Syndrome Awareness Month of October.  Her message to people living with disabilities is that their lives are worthless if deemed so by their parents, and that if a child has severe health challenges, it is best for them to die at the hands of an abortionist.

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Tragically, late-term abortions of preborn children with disabilities and even of perfectly healthy children are a reality in America, and efforts to ban them are being challenged in legislatures and courtrooms across the nation.

Most Americans aren’t aware that federal law allows for babies to be aborted in all nine months of pregnancy. While some states have restrictions, all states allow abortion up to nine months for certain exceptions, and seven states and the District of Columbia allow abortion until birth for any reason.

Most late-term abortions are induction abortions, committed by using a long needle to pierce a baby’s brain or heart to deliver a lethal dose of digoxin, which causes cardiac arrest.  The baby is then delivered stillborn two to three days later.  You can see a medically accurate animation of this procedure presented by former abortionist Dr. Anthony Levatino here.

What may come as a surprise to most Americans is that another type of late-term abortion — partial-birth abortion — has been banned in name only.

The federal law banning partial-birth abortions (which Clinton voted against as a senator because she said it was too strict) still allows for the abortionist to partially deliver a child — with her legs dangling outside of her mother or most of her head being delivered — before he kills her. But for the abortionist waiting to take the child’s life as she moves through the birth canal, the child is only seconds away from taking her first breath and having full legal protection.

Clinton likes to say that women’s rights are human rights. I agree. But for her, human rights don’t extend to humans in the womb.

Science tells us that it is indeed a human life in the womb, not a clump of cells or a blob of tissue — a life that only needs time and nourishment to grow. The baby’s unique set of DNA was formed at the moment of fertilization, and her heart was beating just three and a half weeks later — long before her mother likely knew she was pregnant.

It is important to note that Planned Parenthood, which commits over 320,000 abortions a year and is the nation’s biggest abortion chain, is investing $30 million to help elect Clinton. Much is at stake for the corporation, as they receive over $500 million dollars a year in taxpayer subsidies.

During the debate, Donald Trump stated that he would appoint “pro-life judges” and end the taxpayer funding of Planned Parenthood. Yet his recommendation at the debate for abortion to “go back to the states” is no real solution. His statement implies that the federal government has no role in protecting its citizens’ most basic right — the right to life. It’s one thing for states to determine the implementation of a federal ban on abortion, but no state should be given the power to legislate away the right to life of the preborn child.

I believe we are nation that wants to cherish children, stand up for basic human rights, and protect the vulnerable. I also believe we are a nation that can value the lives of both women and their children, and, whether in our healthcare practices or our legislatures, advocate for them both.

That’s why America must end the abortion industry’s barbaric practice of killing over one million of our most vulnerable children each year, including the thousands who are fully developed and able to survive outside the womb.

Rose is a national leader in the pro-life movement. Connect with her on Facebook or follow her on Twitter.