Indian Court Allows Abortion at 33 Weeks

The Delhi High Court granted a pregnant mother’s request to abort her baby at 33 weeks, Bar and Bench reports, reversing a hospital committee ruling that would have protected the child.

A 33-week abortion is performed by induction. First, the abortionist injects the baby’s heart with digoxin to “ensure fetal demise” — or, stripped of its euphemism, to kill the baby. The mother then delivers the corpse. The labor process is exactly the same as if she were giving birth. The only difference is that the baby is stillborn.

That means that she could have completely vindicated her right to bodily autonomy by giving birth to a live baby. Either way, the baby is out! Either way, there will be labor! An induction abortion actually requires a greater invasion of the mother’s body than a live birth would.

Instead, she insisted on killing her son or daughter and delivering the corpse. And for what? Because the child might have a “handicap” and require surgery 10 weeks after birth. We have such a long way to go on disability rights.

This is what the pro-choice movement supports. It isn’t about bodily autonomy. It isn’t about merely withdrawing care. It never was. It’s about a right to a dead baby.

As an atheist, I don’t usually use the word “evil.” The religious connotations are too much. I don’t wish to suggest that I buy into the notion that a literal satanic force is behind the abortion industry. Pro-life advocates have enough on our plates without bringing the supernatural into it.

But there’s just no better word in the English language. This is evil.

[Image credit: the Endowment for Human Development]