What is the controversy about “partial birth” abortions?
So-called “partial birth” abortions are procedures in which the person performing the abortion partially delivers vaginally a living unborn child before killing the unborn child and completing the delivery. Under most statutes, it has been unclear whether the term applies to many late term abortions or only those involving the “D&X” procedure where the fetus is in the breech condition and thus a live fetus is partially extracted from the mother’s body before the abortion is finalized. When it is used type of procedure is typically performed after the 15th week of pregnancy. Because of the unclear definition accorded to the procedure, the Supreme Court invalidated a Nebraska statute which had prohibited such abortions. Earlier a proposed federal statute which would have imposed this ban was vetoed by President Clinton, and the Senate did not have sufficient votes to override this veto. Justice O’Connor’s concurring opinion indicated that if the ban had applied only to the “D&X” procedur
