National pro-life organization Live Action is out with a second medical animation video featuring former abortionist Dr. Anthony Levatino.
He explains how a surgical suction – or aspiration – dilation and curettage (D&C) abortion uses a suction catheter to vacuum a baby of only about 5 to 13 weeks out of his mother’s uterus.
As in the first video – which depicted a second trimester surgical abortion, Levatino uses medical animation – and not graphic, real-life photography – to reveal the harsh reality of abortion.
“This is the most frequently performed abortion,” Levatino explains.
During the first trimester abortion procedure, the abortionist uses metal rods to dilate the mother’s cervix to gain access to the uterus. A suction catheter using a force approximately 10 to 20 times the force of a household vacuum cleaner is then used to suck the baby out of the womb. The abortionist then uses a sharp tool called a curette to scrape the baby’s remains from the mother’s uterus.
According to Live Action – which states its Abortion Procedures website has been researched and reviewed by physicians for medical accuracy – one in 167 women suffer an injury to the uterus or cervix during an aspiration or suction abortion; one in 48 women experience hemorrhage; and one in 59 women suffer infection. Maternal death – though rare – can occur as well. The risks to the mother also include future pregnancy complications.
“One of the risks of a suction D&C is incomplete abortion, where essentially pieces of the baby or placenta are left behind,” Levatino explains in the video. “This can lead to infection or bleeding.”
A baby’s organs begin to develop at just two to three weeks following fertilization – or four to five weeks since the mother’s last missed period (LMP) – and the heart begins to beat. At eight weeks LMP, the baby’s hands and feet are developing, and by nine weeks, the baby can suck her thumb. At ten weeks LMP, the baby’s vital organs are functioning and the baby is moving rapidly. By the end of the first trimester, the unborn baby’s reflexes are developed and his nerve cells are developing rapidly.
As Live Action notes, the first trimester suction abortion is legal in all 50 states. Approximately 700,000 babies are aborted each year in this manner.
All the Live Action medical animation videos about abortion can be viewed here.
A recent Marist College Institute for Public Opinion poll found a full 81 percent of Americans favor some restrictions on abortion – including limiting the procedure after the first three months – and a continued ban on public funding of abortion.
In the survey of 1,700 Americans, even 66 percent of respondents who identify themselves as pro-choice say, “Abortion should be allowed, at most, in the first trimester, in cases of rape, incest or to save the life of the mother, or never permitted.”
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