In an “urgent appeal”, the ECLJ has called the UN Special
Rapporteur on Torture to investigate on children born alive after late
abortion, and on methods of late abortion, especially in the United-Kingdom and
Canada: in Canada, between 2000 and 2011, 622 babies born alive after an
abortion were left to die, and 66 in the United Kingdom in 2005. Some cruel
methods of late abortion constitute torture, especially the one called
dilatation and evacuation: the foetus, still alive, is dismembered to be pulled
out of the womb in pieces. (Source ECLJ)
The ECLJ has communicated to the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture cases of
torture due to late abortion. Appointed by the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, the Special
Rapporteur on Torture can examine questions relevant to torture in all
countries. He transmits urgent appeals to States, undertakes fact-finding
country visits and submits annual reports to the Human Rights Council and the
General Assembly.
Scientific evidence proves that foetuses and premature babies can feel pain
at least as much as adults. Foetuses are responsive to touch at 8 weeks and
have the physical structure to experience pain at 20 weeks.
As early as 16 weeks, an
infant can survive for a while out of the womb, and it is considered viable at
22 weeks. However, in Canada, there is no legal limit for abortion, even if
medical rules recommend limiting abortion on demand to 22 weeks. In the UK,
abortion is legal until 24 weeks, and until the end of pregnancy in case of
foetal anomaly.
British Department of Health figures show that 2860
abortions at 20 weeks or more were carried out in England and Wales in 2012. In
2012, 160 abortions were done after 24 weeks, including 38 between 28 and 31
weeks, and 28 after 32 weeks. 66 babies were thus aborted after 28 weeks, which
was the viability limit defined by the WHO until 1975: an infant born at that
gestational age can survive without medical help.
In Canada in 2011, there were 823 abortions between 17
and 20 weeks, 549 after 21 weeks[1].
These figures are severely underestimated since they do not include Quebec
(more than 26,000 abortions a year, including over 1500 after 14 weeks) nor
clinics, though more than half abortions are done in clinics.
Late abortion being difficult to perform, it happens that babies are born
alive after an abortion. In
2007, a study published in the British Journal of Obstetrics
and Gynecology[2] concluded
that about 1 in
30 abortions after 16 weeks’ gestation result in a born-alive infant. At 23
weeks’ gestation, the number reached 9.7%. In that case, they are left to die without any care, or killed.
The Guidance
from the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists[3]
recommends killing these
babies by lethal injection. When they are not killed, they are not fed, not
even covered, no care is given them even if they were wounded by the attempted
abortion. They are left to suffer and die alone. According to official
statistics, between 2000 and 2011 in Canada, 622 babies were born alive and
left to die after an abortion. They were 66 in 2005 in the United Kingdom,
where no statistics were published on this issue the following years.
Concerning Syria, the Special Rapporteur recently stressed that deprival of food, water, shelter and medical care constitutes a crime against
humanity. Depriving newborn babies of elementary care, whatever the conditions
of their birth, constitutes torture and should also be considered a crime
against humanity.
Some methods of abortion, especially dilatation and evacuation, should be banned because of the inhumane suffering they cause for the
foetus. According to the statistics of the Canadian Institute for Health
Information, 1226 abortions in 2010 and 1341 in 2011 used the method of dilatation
and evacuation in Canadian hospitals (except Quebec and not including clinics)[4],
while among the 160 late abortions in England and Wales in
2012, 43% were by dilatation and evacuation.
In the case of dilatation and evacuation, the cervix
is dilated, then the “content of the uterus” is pulled out with a clamp. In the
end, the pieces are examined to make sure everything has been removed. This
means that the body is gathered like a puzzle, because in many cases it has
been dismembered during the operation. If there was no feticide injection
first, or if the injection did not cause death[5],
the foetus was alive while its members were being torn off one after the other.
This frightfully cruel method is inhumane and constitutes torture.
[4]
2010: http://www.cihi.ca/cihi-ext-
[5]
According to a study, the injection effectively induced fetal death in 87% of
women. This means that 13 % survived. Nucatola D, Roth N, Gatter M. A
randomized pilot study on the effectiveness and side-effect profiles of two
doses of digoxin as fetocide when administered intraamniotically or
intrafetally prior to second-trimester surgical abortion. Contraception. 2010
Jan;81(1):67-74. doi: 10.1016/j.contraception.2009.
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