{"id":303350,"date":"2023-12-12T06:42:39","date_gmt":"2023-12-12T12:42:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=303350"},"modified":"2024-09-20T16:18:00","modified_gmt":"2024-09-20T21:18:00","slug":"3-key-facts-texas-aborting-baby-disability","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/3-key-facts-texas-aborting-baby-disability\/","title":{"rendered":"3 key facts about the case of the Texas woman aborting her baby with a disability"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Kate Cox, the Texas woman who sued to have an allegedly “medically necessary” abortion, has been at the center of a media firestorm<\/a>. Initially, a judge ruled that she could go through with the abortion, only for the Texas Supreme Court to put a hold on that ruling and then ultimately say that the lower court decided the case wrongly<\/a>, upholding pro-life Texas law. Cox has since reportedly responded by choosing to go out of state for an abortion \u2014 something she could have done from the beginning \u2014 though it is not yet clear if she has already undergone the procedure to kill her child.<\/p>\n

There has been much said about Cox, her health, her preborn child, and abortion. But what are the facts?<\/p>\n

What happens during a D&E abortion?<\/h3>\n

As stated in court documents, Cox was planning to seek a dilation and evacuation (D&E) abortion at nearly 21 weeks pregnant. A D&E is the most frequently committed abortion procedure between 13 and 23 weeks gestation. Though Cox has said she wants to prevent any potential suffering for her daughter, a D&E is far from a simple, painless procedure. It is commonly known as a “dismemberment” abortion \u2014 because that’s what it does to the living preborn child in the womb.<\/p>\n

The standard of practice is for a D&E to take several days, although some abortionists may attempt a same-day procedure, which increases the risk of injury to the woman. First, the abortionist inserts laminaria into the woman’s cervix, forcing the process of dilation to start. Next, after one or two days, the mother returns to the abortion facility, where the abortionist forcibly dilates her cervix. Using a sopher clamp, the preborn baby is ripped apart, limb from torso, with the final step in the procedure being for the baby’s head to be located and crushed. The abortionist then uses a curette to scrape the lining of the mother’s uterus in an attempt to remove anything that remains. The baby’s dismembered body will then be reassembled by the abortionist to ensure nothing was left inside the mother’s womb.<\/p>\n

This procedure takes place during a period when a preborn child can most likely feel pain<\/a>.<\/p>\n