But a unit caring for healthy mothers and babies is also a interesting environment for women having abortions, says Catherine. Those women don't really want to hear a mother's newborn baby crying next door just after they've had an abortion. Until March, women seeking late abortions at Foothills had been cared for in an area separated from new mothers and women who aborted before the 24th week of pregnancy. And according to Catherine, late abortions need to be kept separate, partly in order to avoid forcing postpartum nurses from having to do work they oppose morally. Babies can survive.
Nurses handle the procedure, giving the drug every four to six hours.
But Cytotec can take four or five days to cause contractions powerful enough to expel the baby. It's also hoped that the baby dies during labour before coming out. But not all babies do. In fact, several babies aborted at Foothills have lived for significant periods of time, including the one born last August. Catherine is concerned that genetic abortions are being done in her unit with increasing frequency.