Kansans for Life Report on Sept 6 Late Term Abortion Hearings

A quick report about late-term abortion hearings in Topeka Thursday, Sept. 6, 2007

September 6, 2007

On the second of three days of legislative hearings on late term abortion law in Kansas those supporting the status quo (non-enforcement of the state's late-term abortion law) looked "weak, weak, weak" according to Kansans for Life Executive Director, Mary Kay Culp.

In response to video testimony of the arguably most eminent psychiatrist in America, Dr. Paul McHugh, abortion supporters put up a Kansas psychologist who supports the abortion of babies, even at the time they could otherwise live outside the womb, for post-partum depression of the mother. Douglas Mould argued that since post-partum depression could cause children with attachment disorder, if not aborted they could end up like Jeffry Dahmer, etc.

"It was pathetic," said Culp of the attempt to counter McHugh's strong testimony. "Also pathetic was their 30 minute attempt to get the committee chair, Rep. Arlen Siegfreid to change his mind about showing the McHugh video," Culp added.

McHugh said that Tiller's records showed that he used his own dire social predictions about a woman's life to justify post-viable abortions rather than the "substantial and irreversible" psychological diagnses required by the law, arranged for no plan for follow up care for the ostensibly serious conditions and had little or no medical histories of the women in their files.

The only other witness arranged by abortion supporters was a medical doctor who talked about the need for post-viable abortions when the baby suffers an anomaly. However, he admitted that the conditions he mentioned could be diagnosed prior to the 22 week elective abortion limit.

Pro-life conferees included former state Rep. Tim Carmody who was House Judiciary Committtee Leader when the 1998 law was passed. Carmody spoke to the intention of the law and said they had hoped the law would reduce the numbers of post-viable abortions.

Attorney and Psychologist Brian Russell, Lawrence, brilliantly rebutted remarks made by psychologist Mould. 

Attorney Mary Spaulding Balch, state legislative director of National Right to Life, of which Kansans for Life is a state affiliate, spoke about practical ways in which the Kansas legislature could enhance enforcement of the current law by adding opportunities for injunctions and civil remedies, noting that much enforcement of civil rights law was carried out in this manner. This would include empowering women who have abortions to have standing to sue the abortionist should she later feel she was taken advantage of or purposely improperly diagnosed.

Jenn Giroux of Women Influencing the Nation who initiated the website www.chargetiller.com repeatedly held up a large binder full of pages of names of people who have signed the petition on her website and invited legislators to look through the copy she left them.  She said many people from across the U.S. left comments on the website.

One of them was the grandmother of a baby aborted by Tiller this past June.  Giroux presented a sonagram picture of the baby, aborted at 27 weeks, the bill from Tiller for $6,000 and a letter from the grandmother reprimanding Kansas for having "open borders" offering illegal late-term abortions.

Giroux also spoke to the issue of babies with disabilities and mothers of those babies and spoke of her own experience of having such a child.  She told how mothering such a child had brought out things and strengths inside herself that she would otherwise not know she possessed--something women encouraged to abort such babies never find out.  She later spoke about how that little girl, now three years old,  is the light of their family of nine.

Giroux also made the point that, opposed to what some said was many women's financial inability to get mental health help rather than a late-term abortion ostensibly for mental health reasons, that such late-term abortions can cost from $6,000 to $10,000, an amount that could buy quite a bit of psychiatric or psychological help.
  

During the lunch break in Thursday's hearings, pro-life groups in Kansas held a press conference and rally.

The podium sign featured three monkeys:  SEE NO EVIL (the Kansas Department of Health and their inability to see anything wrong on the abortion report forms) HEAR NO EVIL (the Kansas Medical Board of Healing Arts and their inability to hear anything wrong from investigated abortionists) and SPEAK NO EVIL (the KS Attorney General's office where Paul Morrison says there is no such thing as diagnosis fraud.)

The rally featured blow up guitars being held by about 50 pro-life citizens during the press conference and walk to the attorney general's office across the street.

The guitars represented the fact that according to McHugh, Tiller did an abortion on a post-viable child because the mother wanted to attend a rock concert--something CLEARLY out of line with Kansas requirements that she be suffering from a substantial and irreversible impairment of a major bodily function.

Culp, executive director of Kansans for Life who attended the hearings said, "All they have to do is make the KDHE make the doctor follow the current law by making him write the reasons and basis for doing the post-viable abortions, and make the Board of Healing Arts routinely review them.  That's all. Last year there were 233, about one per working day. They can handle that.  And as soon as they make Tiller write down the REAL reasons he does these abortions on those forms, rather than medical records having to be supeoned to find them out, they may quickly plummet to one per year, if even that!

The hearings continue Friday, Sept. 6 at 9:00 a.m. with Troy Newman of Operation Rescue, Rep. Lance Kinzer, a young woman who is a private citizen with pertinent testimony, Wendy Wright, National President of Concerned Women for America, Julie Burkhart, employee of Dr. George Tiller and his Political Action Committee and Kathy Ostrowski, legislative director of Kansans for Life. 

Thanks to pro-life members of the special committee: Rep. Arlen Seigfried (chair), Rep. Owen Donohoe, Rep. Gene Vickrey and Rep. Mike O'Neal (who revealed Thursday that he was adopted) for their wonderful questioning of conferees.

Check media stories covering the hearing at www.kfl.org