ACOG and Partial Birth Abortion [Serge]

Kyl asks in the comments:

How do we answer these claims “Ginsburg said the latest decision "tolerates, indeed applauds, federal intervention to ban nationwide a procedure found necessary and proper in certain cases by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists." And “Abortion rights groups as well as the leading association of obstetricians and gynecologists have said the procedure sometimes is the safest for a woman.”

The short answer is that Ginsberg is full of it, but that would not be effective. Here is ACOG's position on partial birth abortion.

Terminating a pregnancy is performed in some circumstances to save the life or preserve the health of the mother. Intact D & X is one of the methods available in some of these situations. A select panel convened by ACOG could identify no circumstances under which this procedure, as defined above, would be the only option to save the life or preserve the health of the woman.

Note that this is a statement of fact. A select panel of a very pro-abortion choice medical organization could not find a single instance in which intact D&X was the only option. In other words, a physician is always able to find a different option if a mother's life is in danger. However, you know ACOG would not stop there...

An intact D & X, however, may be the best or most appropriate procedure in a particular circumstance to save the life or preserve the health of a woman, and only the doctor, in consultation with the patient, based upon the woman's particular circumstances can make this decision.

Fact: there is always an option to save the life or physical health of a mother in the tragic case of a life-threatening pregnancy other than partial birth abortion. However, there might be an instance in which a doctor prefers to deliver the fetus up to the neck before killing her. The second quote is not a finding of fact, but speculation that such a circumstance may someday exist.

The last part of the last sentence is very telling. Translation: "I'm the doctor - don't you dare tell me what I can or cannot do. If I believe that its better to kill the fetus just outside the womb as opposed to dismembering her inside of her Mom - then that what I should be able to do. If you need a reason - what part of I'm the doctor do you not understand?"

Don't be sidetracked by ridiculous statements like this one from the communications director of ACOG. It deserves an entire post by itself, but this is simply an ideological assertion without basis in fact. There is no scientific evidence that partial birth abortion is ever necessary or even the best option in saving the life or physical health of the mother. Even if there was, the law makes that a notable exception.