Because of the crudeness of details and the accompanying discomfort associated with discussion of this controversial method of abortion, debate has oftentimes been stifled or misdirected. But the very notion of a partial birth raises some important constitutional questions. If we desire to remain a nation where legal principles preserve individual rights, the questions that surround this critical issue must be explored. Somewhere along this path constitutional rights are vested. Under the present law as currently interpreted by the Supreme Court, the unborn have no constitutional rights.
Constitutional rights attach upon birth.
Previous Supreme Court decisions concerning the validity of abortion laws have distinguished between the rights of states to regulate abortions in the second half of pregnancy as opposed to earlier in the gestation cycle. The language and reasoning of the Court seem to grant more consideration to the fetus as it comes closer in time to viability. It is utilized after the twentieth week of pregnancy. With the assistance of ultrasound, the physician conducting the procedure rotates the fetus while it is still inside the womb. The entire body is then pulled out of the birth canal with the exception of the head.