Partial-Birth Abortion & Its Affect on the American People

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'Partial-Birth Abortion

and its Affect on the American People'

We sat and watched our televisions and rejoiced as Jeffrey Dahmer was sentenced

to life in prison for the brutal killing of hundreds of men, women, and children. Yet, right

now, as you are reading this paper, another life has been taken...a child's life. A child

who, one day, could have been seen take his or her first steps, opened the first Christmas

present. One who later could have went off to school and come home with news of his or

her first new girlfriend or boyfriend. A scholar, who could have fulfilled his or her

dreams by going to college to study in a chosen field, and one day, been deemed one of

the greatest in that particular field. The child who was just 'murdered' could have seen

all of these events come to pass, but instead, the child's mother had a partial-birth abortion

and ended the infant's life forever.

Partial-birth abortion is a topic that has caused a

massive controversy in the past few years. In September, 1993, Brenda Pratt Shafer, a

registered nurse with thirteen years of experience, was assigned by her nursing agency to

an abortion clinic. Since Nurse Shafer considered herself to be 'very pro-choice,' she

didn't think this assignment would be a problem. She was wrong. This is what Nurse

Shafer saw:

'I stood at the doctor's side and watched him perform a

partial-birth abortion on a woman who was six months

pregnant. The baby's heartbeat was clearly visible on the

ultrasound screen. The doctor delivered the baby's body and

arms, everything but his little head. The baby's body was

moving. His little fingers were clasping together. He was

kicking his feet. The doctor took a pair of scissors and

inserted them into the...