Ex-Abortionist, Now Pro-Life, Details Late-Term Abortion to Congress Amid Bill Banning Procedure (VIDEO)
Dr. Anthony Levatino, a former abortionist who is now pro-life, described in clinical detail how a late-term abortion is performed. Levatino was testifying in support of a bill that would ban all abortions nationwide after 20 weeks of pregnancy.
Levatino asked the committee members to imagine a patient 24 weeks pregnant. The baby "would be as long as your hand plus a half from the top of her head to the bottom of the rump not counting the legs," and the patient has been feeling the baby kick for the last two months.
He was testifying before the House Judiciary's Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice Thursday hearing on H.R. 1797, the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act. The bill was originally going to only apply to the District of Columbia, but after the horrific details of the Kermit Gosnell trial came to light, the bill's sponsor, Rep. Trent Franks (R-Ariz.), decided to change the bill so it would apply to the whole nation.
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Levatino described a procedure called "Suction D&E." In the early 1980s, Levatino said, he performed about 1,200 abortions and over 100 of them were second trimester abortions, up to 24 weeks, using Suction D&E.
Levatino described in detail each step of the procedure. He showed the committee the primary instrument used to extract the fetus – a Sopher clamp: "This instrument is for grasping and crushing tissue. When it gets hold of something, it does not let go."
A second trimester abortion is a "blind procedure," Levatino explained, because the abortionist cannot see the fetus, he must feel around for it with the Sopher clamp, and must be careful not to puncture the uterus.
"Once you have grasped something inside, squeeze on the clamp to set the jaws and pull hard – really hard," Levatino recalled. "You feel something let go and out pops a fully formed leg about six inches long. Reach in again and grasp whatever you can. Set the jaw and pull really hard once again and out pops an arm about the same length. Reach in again and again with that clamp and tear out the spine, intestines, heart and lungs."
The most difficult part of a second trimester abortion, according to Levatino, is removing the head, which is about the size of a plum.
"You will know you have it right when you crush down on the clamp and see white gelatinous material coming through the cervix," he said. "That was the baby's brains. You can then extract the skull pieces. Many times a little face will come out and stare back at you."
Levatino also claimed that the procedure would never make sense to save a mother's life because it would take too long. He explained that he has personally had hundreds of cases in which a pregnancy was life threatening to both mother and child. In those instances, he would end the pregnancy by delivering the baby, via C-section, and save both of their lives.
Levatino ended his testimony by paraphrasing the words of President Barack Obama after the Newtown shooting: "If there is even one step we can take to save another child ... then surely we have an obligation to try."
You can watch Levatino's testimony below, or read the transcript at LifeNews.com.
