Beyond the immediate risks, partial-birth abortion can undermine a woman's future fertility and compromise future pregnancies. Ruptures and cuts received to the uterine wall and cervix can cause scarring and make it difficult for the woman to conceive again. The forcible dilation over such a prolonged period can weaken the cervix, making it more difficult to carry a child to full term. Partial-birth abortion is unsafe at any time, in any place. The procedure uses techniques that are outdated and do not represent the appropriate standard of care.
Women have much safer options.
For the child partially born, this procedure is gruesome and painful. In the past it was thought that a fetus of 22 to 24 weeks' gestation, the time during which many partial-birth abortions are performed, felt no pain. For this reason, infants of this age in intensive care are routinely sedated and anesthetized for painful procedures. But no pain management is offered for the infant who is the victim of partial-birth abortion. There is no reason to allow the use of partial birth-abortion and every reason to stop it.