Sponsor Statement for HB 65

Partial-birth abortions, which typically occur in late-term pregnancies, involve the following steps: First, the abortionist locates the baby's leg and pulls it into the birth canal; Second, the entire baby is delivered except the head; Third, scissors are inserted into the live baby's head and the hole enlarged; Fourth, a suction catheter is inserted into the hole and the baby's brains are sucked out, thereby collapsing the skull; Finally, the dead baby is completely removed.

In testimony before the US House of Representatives Judiciary Committee, Nurse Shafer described her experience of partial-birth abortions as follows:

"...His little fingers were clasping together. He was kicking his feet. All the while his little head was still stuck inside. [The doctor takes] a pair of scissors and insert[s] them into the back of the baby's head. Then he opened the scissors up. Then he stuck the high-powered suction tube into the hole and sucked the baby's brains out."

This gruesome and hideous procedure, which but for a few centimeters would be punishable as infanticide, would be outlawed by HB 65, as unworthy of civilized people. Such behavior coarsens our society, undermines people's trust in the medical profession, and blurs the legal distinction between abortion and homicide.

HB 65 makes it a felony for a person to perform a partial-birth abortion, except where necessary to save the life of the mother. While leaving intact the right to all other types of abortion procedures, HB 65 punishes the abortionist but not the mother.

Partial-birth abortions are not something that we need in the State of Alaska. Your support of HB 65 is urged.