Partial-Birth Abortion

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Definition

Dilation and extraction (D&X) also known as partial-birth abortion. Uses medication to induce labor, forceps to pull baby out, scissors to open skull, and suction to remove the brain. Synonymous terms: Intact dilation & evacuation (Intact D&E), Intact D&X.

Legal definition:
From the Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003, 108th Congress of the United States of America:

"(1) The term `partial-birth abortion' means an abortion in which the person performing the abortion--

(A) deliberately and intentionally vaginally delivers a living fetus until, in the case of a head-first presentation, the entire fetal head is outside the body of the mother, or, in the case of breech presentation, any part of the fetal trunk past the navel is outside the body of the mother, for the purpose of performing an overt act that the person knows will kill the partially delivered living fetus; and

(B) performs the overt act, other than completion of delivery, that kills the partially delivered living fetus."

Quotes

Ron Fitzsimmons, executive director of the National Coalition of Abortion Providers, speaking of partial-birth abortion:
"In the vast majority of cases, the procedure is performed on a healthy mother with a healthy fetus that is 20 weeks or more along. The abortion-rights folks know it, the anti-abortion folks know it, and so, probably, does everyone else." (New York Times, Feb. 26, 1997, p. A11)

Graphics

A diagram of the partial-birth abortion (D&X) procedure on the National Right to Life website, with a statement of accuracy by former abortionists. The diagram is of a scientific nature and is considered suitable for all viewers.

Legal References

Full text of the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003 passed by the U.S. Congress.
The Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act was signed into law by President George W. Bush, but held up for a time in the courts, despite public support for the Act. The Supreme Court heard the case in Gonzales v. Carhart and Gonzales v. Planned Parenthood (Nov. 2006), and delivered its opinion upholding the Act on April 18, 2007.

Read the April 18, 2007 Supreme Court opinion.

Oral arguments from Gonzales v. Carhart and the companion case, Gonzales v. Planned Parenthood .
Both the text and mp3 audio are available.

Texts from Stenberg v. Carhart (2000), the last Supreme Court decision on partial-birth abortion:
Dissents by Rehnquist, Scalia, and Kennedy