What’s Making Liberal Millennials Switch from Pro-Choice to Pro-Life?

Abortion’s a woman’s right; it’s her body. The law clearly supports that position—for the first trimester, at least. Many states allow abortion up to the twenty-fourth week. Second and third trimester abortions ignite major controversy but are carried out in the absence of a definitive Supreme Court ruling. So, what’s making liberal millennials switch from pro-choice to pro-life?

 

Fearing Changes in The Law?

Liberals believe the law is on their side right now. Any tweaking will only serve to reinforce the woman’s rights. Liberal millennials are convinced they stand on solid legal ground.

Conservative millennials hang their overturning hopes on a strict interpretation of the 1973 Supreme Court ruling. The issue in question is viability versus the woman’s rights.

What was the intention of the Court in 1973? The ruling accepted an abortion is legal as long as the physicians agree the fetus is not viable—not developed enough to survive outside the mother.

Advances in neonatal care since 1973 have drastically altered the gestational age of viability. Premature babies opting out of the last weeks in the womb arrive fully developed but tiny. Good supportive care allows the infant to reach the hospital’s discharge weight, sending home a healthy baby.

In 2019, even the infant born in the middle of the second trimester has a good chance of surviving. During the National Prayer Breakfast on February 7, President Trump introduced a couple and their strapping one-year-old son.

Though a staggering four months premature, Austin entered this world as his parents rushed to the hospital–in the middle of a blizzard. The baby arrived before Dad reached the hospital. In spite of his less-than-stellar delivery conditions, the extremely tiny fighter survived and is healthy today.

Austin, and the many survivors just like him, are living proof that a fetus is already viable in the second trimester. Any challenge to the 1973 Supreme Court ruling the latest poll would center on a woman’s rights not on viability of the fetus.

If the young liberals don’t fear they’ll lose the next Supreme Court challenge, then what’s making liberal millennials switch from pro-choice to pro-life? Maybe they’re searching the facts for themselves?

 

Reviewing the Basics

There are three common methods of abortion used today:

• Medically induced abortion. Medication is given to the pregnant woman to kill the fetus. If all goes to plan, this will induce the premature delivery of the fetus. A Dilatation and Curettage (D & C) may be needed if the placenta is not delivered completely. Any retained fragments can cause excessive bleeding and/or infection.

This method can only be used safely if the mother is in the first trimester—the fetus is less than thirteen weeks gestation.

• Surgical procedure known as Dilatation and Evacuation (D & E). This procedure is used for 95% of second and third trimester abortions.

• Surgical procedure known as Dilatation and Extraction (D & X). This procedure is reserve for third or late-term abortions. The D & X is rarely used as it’s deemed illegal in most states.

 

Estimates put medically induced, first trimester abortions somewhere between two-thirds and three-fourths of all abortions. The earlier the pregnancy is confirmed and the abortion undertaken, the better the chance for an uncomplicated medical abortion.

If you’ve seen the lapel pin showing the unborn baby’s tiny feet at ten weeks, you’ll understand that, while still in the first trimester, more than the medication may be needed for the abortion. From the tenth to the thirteenth week, suction will be needed to remove the body parts. If they’re small enough to respond intact to the suction, the mother will normally only need the routine D & C following the removal of the fetus.

And if the woman doesn’t discover or accept she’s pregnant early enough? The D & E is the usual abortion option.

 

D & E Explained

D & C vs D & E? When a spontaneous miscarriage terminates the pregnancy, the doctors will perform a Dilatation and Curettage to be sure the uterus has sloughed all of the products of conception. The surgical scraping also treats common gynecological problems.

The D & E is nothing like the more familiar D & C. Last month I listened to the testimony of an obstetrician explaining the D & E. As part of his Planned Parenthood employment, he’d performed the abortion procedure hundreds and hundreds of times.

The Dilatation phase is the same in all D & procedures. When the cervix is completely dilated, a suction catheter removes the liquid before the evacuation begins.

The evacuation is performed using a long-handled instrument. The forceps contain sharp hook-like claws at the end.

The abortion instrument is introduced through the dilated cervix. (The doctor noted the ultrasound shows the unborn infant trying to move away from it.) When the claws snag something, the abortionist pulls hard until the body part comes loose. He stacks the parts for counting at the end of the procedure. The abortion normally takes ten to fifteen such passes of the hooked claws.

I didn’t overlook the step where the baby is killed before the evacuation begins. He’s alive throughout the procedure—until he bleeds to death. (The doctor testifying knew of a colleague shocked by the sudden delivery of an infant whose arm his instrument had removed seconds earlier. The abortionist laid the infant next to his severed arm until he bled to death.)

After the abortionist accounts for all body parts and organs, he carries out a curettage to be sure nothing remains of the infant or placenta.

Ironically, the reason labor is not induced to allow the unborn infant to be delivered whole is to spare the mother the pain of labor and delivery.

The doctor explaining the D & E procedure no longer works for Planned Parenthood. In his testimony, he shared his personal story.

The doctor and his wife adopted a baby girl after years of trying to get pregnant. How he loved that little girl and watching her grow. They ran and played together.

One day, a car struck and killed his preschool-age child. Something changed in the heart of this broken and grieving father. The first day he returned to his job at Planned Parenthood proved to be his last.

The doctor struggled through the first abortion on his schedule. When it was finished, he left the room to vomit. He immediately resigned from Planned Parenthood.

 

Perhaps the same reality-check is what’s making liberal millennials switch from pro-choice to pro-life.

The D & E is finally being called what it is—Dismemberment Abortion—and the details of the procedure are finally being released. In the early years of this century, Supreme Court Justice Kennedy detailed the D & E abortion in a dissenting opinion, but the text never found the media’s interest. Now, the young people are discovering the horrors behind the initials.

 

D & X Explained

The Dilatation and Extraction abortion has been outlawed in most states. It’s still practiced in states such as Maryland where no restrictions on abortion exist. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) estimates that 2% of late-term abortions are performed by the D & X method.

The D & X is similar to the D & E noted above. The D & X differences are significant:

• Killed before the D & X. A day or two prior to the surgical procedure, the abortionist injects the baby’s heart with a lethal dose of Digoxin or Potassium. The heart stops soon after injection, but additional time will soften the bones to prevent breaks that may injure the mother during the extraction.

• Feet first position. After the dilatation and removal of the liquid in the womb, forceps are introduced into the womb to turn the infant into the feet-first position.

• Removal of brain. Carefully pulling on one leg will bring the back of the infant’s head into position. The abortionist makes a small incision at the base of the skull. A suction catheter is inserted and the brain removed.

• Extracted intact. Without the brain, the skull collapses. The infant can then be removed in one piece.

 

If the lethal medication hasn’t been given, the trauma of the D & X may initiate labor with a sudden delivery. The abortionist may elect to follow the example of Dr. Kermit Gosnell. Once the head is available, surgical scissors cut the spinal cord at the base of the skull. Excruciatingly painful but soon after the infant dies.

Last October, theater-goers in Seattle viewed the true story of abortion doctor, Kermit Gosnell. As the closing credits rolled, no one moved from their seats. No one spoke. The stark reality of what happens inside an abortion clinic engulfed the stunned crowd.

Gosnell: The Trial of America’s Biggest Serial Killer was pulled from theaters but is available through Amazon. The truth won’t be silenced any longer. Millennials want to know.

The answer to what’s making liberal millennials switch from pro-choice to pro-life is likely a personal decision more than the group-think of any movement. When faced with the cruel and grotesque facts, the young adults rethink the position.

But, it’s not just the millennials.

The latest poll, issued only last week, indicated more than the millennials take a second look at abortion procedures. While it’s not unexpected that 80% of all Americans polled oppose partial or late-term abortions, a full 68% of the pro-choice group also agree it’s wrong.

 

Conclusion

I struggled to post this blog today because the whole abortion issue is so controversial and divisive. When I first heard the former abortionist’s testimony last month, I cried and felt sick. I didn’t want to write about it. I just wanted to forget it.

Then, one question haunted me: If the facts are too horrific, should silence be the default? Remember the famous charge from Britain’s MP Edmund Burke: “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”

So, this blog post is my something. I urge you, readers, share this post with everyone who comes to mind as you read. Especially if you know millennials or even the younger generation who may one day have a friend considering the above for herself.

The young people have a right to know the truth. They need to know they can be a liberal and still be pro-life. Many millennials are making that choice right now.