North Dakota Measure Seeks to Ban Decapitation, Skull Crushing during Abortions

LifeSiteNews ^ | 4/14/10 | Kathleen Gilbert

[wagglebee]

MINOT, North Dakota, April 14, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A measure to prohibit physicians from decapitating and crushing the skulls of live unborn children during abortions is seeking clearance to begin gathering signatures for the November ballot, a North Dakota grassroots pro-life organization has announced.  

Daniel Woodard, head of North Dakota's Stop Decapitation Network, filed the paperwork to the North Dakota Secretary of State and Attorney General on Tuesday.  The group aims to collect 12,844 signatures by August 4 in order to place the measure on the 2010 ballot.

"It's unconscionable and unthinkable that any physician who claims to care for the health of others would remove the heads of children or crush them and toss them in the trash," Woodard told LifeSiteNews.com in an interview Wednesday.

Woodard said that he was inspired to pursue the ballot initiative after reading the quotes of abortion doctors who, in federal court hearings regarding the partial-birth abortion ban, testified to decapitating and crushing the skulls of unborn infants in other types of abortions. Woodard's measure would apply not only to partial-birth abortions, but also to abortions inside the mother's womb.

During a federal district court case out of New York in 2004, abortionist Dr. Stephen T. Chasen said that “the fetal head is extracted by placing the forceps around it and crushing it.” Dr. Chasen went on to say that he did not have “any caring or concern for the fetus whose head [he was] crushing.” Dr. Carolyn Westhoff, another abortionist, said, “For the vast majority of D&Es [it is] necessary either [to] crush or collapse the fetal skull.” She told the judge she does not use the word “crush” when speaking to her patients.

According to Woodard, the initiated measure would provide a class A felony penalty to physicians participating in skull-crushing or decapitation abortions. That penalty would become a class AA felony if a skull fragment from the unborn child were to cause serious bodily injury to the mother during or following a decapitation or skull crushing abortion.

When asked about this legislation, state Rep. Dan Ruby from Minot said, “I can hardly believe these crimes happen, especially when physicians can do fetal brain surgery. Any sane American knows that life-saving physicians are supposed to do no harm, most especially not crushing or removing the skulls of children who did nothing to deserve this. I wish Stop Decapitation Network every success on this inspiring endeavor.”

The Secretary of State Al Jaeger has until Thursday, April 22 to approve the measure to begin collecting signatures.

Red River Women's Clinic (RRWC) of Fargo declined to comment to LifeSiteNews.com (LSN) on the legislation because they had not yet seen the initiative. RRWC, North Dakota's lone abortuary, only provides abortion until the 15th week of pregnancy - at which point the child's head is too small to purposefully crush or decapitate.

LSN's attempt to reach Planned Parenthood of Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota for comment was unanswered as of press time.

Woodard said he had spoken to about ten state legislators, and had so far only found support for his anti-decapitation measure. "Even if a legislator was against it, I doubt he'd say it, it would be unpopular," he noted, adding that "even the most liberal newspapers in the state" have had fair coverage.

"It's because they have to be, because the way the bill is framed, [the media] can't really say 'these are evil anti-choicers who hate women,'" he said.

Woodard said he chose the ballot route instead of the legislature to expedite the process: the soonest that it could become law legislatively would be in the summer of 2011, "whereas if I put it on this November ballot, it becomes law right away," he said. Even should the ballot initiative fail, he said, he would "absolutely" expect to see state legislators take up the measure.

[wagglebee]

Woodard said he had spoken to about ten state legislators, and had so far only found support for his anti-decapitation measure. "Even if a legislator was against it, I doubt he'd say it, it would be unpopular," he noted, adding that "even the most liberal newspapers in the state" have had fair coverage.

They should show graphic images EVERYWHERE of what they want to ban.

[wagglebee]

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[rjones42]

Ain’t that special

[massgopguy]

Obama stood alone in the Illinois senate and spoke in support of worse.

[GOP_Party_Animal]

Wow, genius idea! The next initiative should seek to ban another type of barbarism aimed at younger unborn. The more you talk about what happens in an abortion, the less likely people are to support it.

I wonder why someone has not come up with this legislative tactic before.

[stockpirate]

We have done nothing while millions of children have been murdered.

I wonder what the founding fathers would have had us do besides whine?

[ImJustAnotherOkie]

Why take all the fun out of it? /s/

[MrB]

Sounds like a law that 0bama would oppose.

[Slyfox]

(/sarcasm off)

[ArrogantBustard]

Chip, chip, chip ...

[redhead]

Some years ago, I went into the grocery store in Valdez AK to do my weekly shopping, and the local animal-rights advocate had set up her card table and posters of baby seals. As I walked past, she asked me if I would like to sign a petition to stop the slaughter of innocent baby seals. I just said, “No, thanks. I think I’ll wait for a petition to stop the slaughter of unborn baby humans.” The look on her face was worth a million words.

[brushcop]

And thank you very much for taking that stand, very well said.

[Slyfox]

I would love to have seen her face.

[Salvation]

We are winning with these special measure passing in multiple states!

Keep praying!

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[Sun]

Hard to believe it is legal in the first place. Is this really America?

[Lesforlife]

Why not gather signatures for Personhood?
It is always the right time to do the right thing!
Personhood now!

[Deo volente]

It says a lot about how far we’ve sunk as a God-fearing nation that we would need to pass a law banning the decapitation of babies waiting to be born.

The barbarians of old were not even this savage.

[Saundra Duffy]

Thank God for pro life people and organizations!!