Caitlin Borgmann of the CUNY School of Law and Vicki Saporta of the National Abortion Federation.Technorati Tags: George Tiller, Abortion

“George Tiller, an abortion provider who became well-known for providing late-term abortions, was murdered Sunday while attending church services. What exactly did Tiller do that other abortion providers didn’t?

…..Early abortions, in which the fetus is removed through a narrow tube by suction, are so straightforward that 12 states do not even require the practitioner to be a licensed physician. Once the fetus outgrows the tube—usually at around 15 weeks—there are two higher-risk options: dilation and evacuation, and a labor-induction abortion. Tiller was renowned in both procedures.

In a D&E, the doctor medically opens the cervix and extracts the fetus using surgical instruments. The trick is to keep the fetal body as intact as possible, so bone shards don’t lacerate or perforate the cervix and other parts don’t linger and cause sepsis. (The head, which is rarely small enough to fit through the cervical opening, must be collapsed.) Because a fetus is soft and not fully formed, it takes considerable skill to remove it in one piece. Doctors around the country sent patients to Tiller’s clinic because of his mastery in performing the D&E procedure on larger fetuses.”

“Soft and not fully formed”?

I think not. Does this not look “fully formed”?

Or this?