cat got your tongue?

By Diogenes ( articles ) | Jul 10, 2005

In preparation for the confirmation blitz, the New York Times gives us a refresher course in obstetric etiquette.

The so-called partial birth ban has been, for many years, at the center of the struggle over what is, and is not, a constitutionally permissible abortion restriction. The law involves a relatively rare procedure used to terminate pregnancies in the second and third trimesters, a procedure known medically as intact dilation and extraction. Abortion opponents contend the procedure typically involves delivering the lower part of the fetus's body, collapsing the skull while it is still inside the woman's body, and then delivering a dead but largely intact fetus.

And what do abortion supporters contend the procedure typically involves?