Wisconsin Catholic hospitals partner with abortion-training medical college

The Medical College of Wisconsin, as of this fall, is now training ob/gyn medical residents in abortion procedures. MCW has partnered with the Ryan Residency Program, a George Soros-funded “initiative” to push abortion training into medical schools. A 2010 New York Times article revealed that the new frontier was training ob/gyn medical students in abortions, to bring abortion into every doctor’s office in the U.S.

We already know that MCW uses aborted fetal body parts in research and uses embryonic stem cells in research.

MCW is a private college (unlike UW-Madison, which is state-funded), so state laws regarding the use of state funds in abortions do not apply.

MCW partners with Columbia St. Mary’s and St. Joe’s Hospital in Waukesha for its family residency program. It is disappointing these hospitals have not withdrawn from the MCW program, as both the hospitals and the Archdiocese have been made aware of what is occurring at MCW.

HT PLW

How late can an abortion be done in Wisconsin? The answer will shock you.

Last week I read an article that stated:

Audrey Jean was born 15 weeks early at just 25 weeks gestation due to severe pre-eclampsia and severe IUGR. She surpassed all expectations. After 93 days in the NICU, we brought our beautiful, healthy baby girl home.

37 states allow abortions past 24 weeks gestational age. Pro-abortion organizations believe all state bans on abortion are unconstitutional.

Thank you to Virginia Zignego from Pro-Life Wisconsin for the help compiling this information.  These good folks are doing so much for the unborn in Wisconsin, please consider donating to the cause!

How late can Wisconsin children be aborted?

There exists a Wisconsin state ban on abortions after “viability” which is 22 weeks.  The ban has a "life of the mother" exception - which unfortunately can be interpreted pretty much however the woman/doctor/psychologist want it to be.  That means technically the abortion could be performed at any time during the pregnancy if any of the abortionists are willing to chop him/her out of the womb. 

Planned Parenthood will perform abortions up to 12-14 weeks(officially).  As we’ve seen with the Live Action videos, what actually occurs behind their doors is another story, so who knows what actually happens.

Affiliated Medical Services in Milwaukee is the only stand-alone abortion facility in WI that performs abortions up to 22 weeks (the same caveat as above). This was one of the reasons the pro-aborts claimed we “needed” the Madison Surgery Center to perform late-term abortions, because Milwaukee was too far to drive. While abortions in WI rose in 2009, late-term abortions actually dropped, because of the lack of late-term abortion providers.

Besides stand alone abortion facilities, we know for certain that other hospitals now perform elective abortions.  Froedtert Memorial Lutheran in Milwaukee performs abortions, presumably the life of the mother ones.  Froedtert Hospital agreed to partner with Columbia St. Mary’s, a “Catholic” hospital in the Milwaukee area. Apparently since abortions won’t be done on what is considered Columbia St. Mary's grounds, it wasn’t an issue.  We also know that Gunderson Lutheran in La Crosse does, as does Bellin in Green Bay.  Southwest Health in Platteville is rumored to also possibly perform even late term abortions.  They’re hospitals, not stand-alone abortion facilities, so they fly somewhat under the radar.

When the state compiles the annual abortion statistics, it is prohibited by law from revealing where abortions are done or what doctors perform abortions. With the stand-alone facilities, they reveal the locations do abortions; but with the hospitals we have to use what is revealed in the media .

Wisconsin’s 2009 abortion stats show there were 136 abortions over 20 weeks gestation (it doesn’t break it down further than that, unfortunately. Page 8 at Wis DHS)

And despite the Partial Birth Abortion Ban, they are still legal in Wisconsin depending on how the "life of the mother" clause is interpreted.  The same as above, if the exception can be interpreted by a psychologist that a women is emotionally unstable(because no pregnant woman is emotionally unstable) then a partial birth abortion could be done to kill the child and end the pregnancy.  If partial birth abortion isn’t the operation of choice, there are other ways to do late-term abortions (such as a saline injection [warning: graphic], where saline solution is injected into the baby and the mother “delivers” the dead body 2 days later).  The difference is that the baby’s body doesn’t leave the mother during any portion of the abortion.  In that case, the partial birth ban does not apply and the child is covered under the Wisconsin state ban after viability(22 weeks) but if a psychologist or doctor recommends a woman needs a late term abortion, a saline injection abortion method can be used up until 9 months.

If you can find an abortionist (and they’re out there… Dennis Christensen still does late-term abortions in Milwaukee and in Rockford, Ill.) who would be willing to do an abortion up to nine months pregnancy, it would be legal, using the life of the mother clause. There are cases involving inner-city women who “ignored” their pregnancy until they were eight months pregnant and were able to have an abortion under the life of the mother clause; the argument was that because of their general lack of access to health care (whatever that means), it would be too traumatic to give birth, so the abortion was filed away under a mental health clause of the life of the mother exception.

This document from the State of Wisconsin describes the status of partial-birth abortion in WI and points out that in other states that ban partial-birth abortion, the life-of-the mother exception is generally allowed.

One of the trends through this summary is that good meaning people insert an unnecessary "life of the mother" clause.  The mothers life is of utmost importance, but the assumption is that there is a medical necessity for a direct abortion which is not true.  Although those inserting the clause meant well, all it does is provide a backdoor for those who profit from abortion.  Particularly when we look at partial birth abortion, the general consensus even among the so called pro-choice crowd is the practice is never medically necessary.  To denigrate the life of the child to some kind of intruder in the mother's body trying to wreak havoc is disingenuous to say the least.  So why does that clause exist?  So those businesses that prey on women can continue on unhindered.  If abortion is legal in Wisconsin up until 9 months, then us pro-lifers need to examine why we have failed in protecting children.  We can do better.  We must do better.