Ellen Goodman's article "Pro-life hard line is cracking" was about stem cell research calling into question the stage where protection of human life should begin. This protection question seems far more thorny for the abortion rights hard liner.

      Dr. Martin Haskell says he developed partial birth abortions because dismemberment abortions (tearing off arms and legs) on the larger fetuses "were very tough. Sometimes it was a forty-five minute operation." His description of the more efficient procedure: "Reassessing proper placement of the closed scissors tip...the surgeon then forces the scissors into the base of the skull or into the foramen magnum. Having safely entered the skull, he spreads the scissors to enlarge the opening. The surgeon removes the scissors and introduces a suction catheter into this hole and evacuates the skull contents. With the catheter still in place, he applies traction to the fetus, removing it completely from the patient."

      One of his nurses testified, "The baby's little fingers were clasping and unclasping, and his little feet were kicking. Then the doctor stuck the scissors in the back of his head, and the baby's arms jerked out, like a startle reaction."

      The House and Senate voted to ban partial birth abortions. President Clinton vetoed this ban as unconstitutional, resulting in thousands of the procedure being done legally each year including in the ninth month of pregnancy. By this, Mr. Clinton promoted a "logical" consequence of abortion rights. The head remains in the birth canal when the brain is sucked out because to fully deliver the child and then destroy it would be considered murder. If a portion remains inside the mother, it is her private right to have it killed.

      I believe most abortion right advocates are caring people lulled and deceived. If the reality of partial birth abortion beckons you to support protection of the unborn child at some point in development, (there is evidence that an 8-week unborn child can feel pain), I hope you'll question the validity and origin of the abortion rights view that is fashionable yet cannot withstand moral or intellectual scrutiny.

Annie Bukacek MD