God's auctioneer?

Media reports are filled these days with allegations that Planned Parenthood is marketing and selling undamaged parts from partial-birth abortion procedures.

Let me try to explain both types of termination of pregnancy that are appropriate here:

     A woman chooses to terminate an unwanted pregnancy, so she turns to Planned Parenthood.  Their organization is well-known in the public and there are still some private physicians who choose not to perform abortions.

     If the fetus' gestational age is less than 15 weeks, either a chemically- or surgically-induced termination can be performed.  A chemically-induced abortion is fairly self-explanatory.

     If a chemically-induced abortion cannot be performed for whatever reason, it becomes a surgical procedure and suction aspiration or vacuum aspiration techniques are used.

Moving on with our examples:

     For whatever reason, the patient has held off too long for the standard medical or surgical type of procedure that is performed when the fetus is younger than a gestational age of 15 weeks. After 15 weeks and up to 26 weeks of pregnancy, partial birth abortions (medically termed "intact dilatation and extraction") is used to terminate the pregnancy.  Please note also that this can be used in cases of miscarriage.

     During this procedure, the largest part of the fetus must be reduced in diameter in order for it to pass through the vaginal canal and cervix.  The mother generally has to have labor induced, and at the appropriate time, a physician uses forceps and ultrasound imaging to partially remove the fetus.

     If you want further description of the remainder of intact dilatation and extraction surgery, I encourage you to look it up on your own.

      

Now come the accusations that fetal body parts from partial-birth abortions are being offered for sale for researchers.  I don't understand what the researchers are doing with this tissue, but I sincerely worry about a society who would choose to permit the sale of human parts.  No, not somebody donated their liver, etc., this to me reeks of grave robbing.

Are the families signing the release forms being made aware that their fetus may become a commodity on an after-market?  I know first-hand what an excruciating decision it can be not to carry a pregnancy to term for non-medical reasons.  I cannot fathom having to wonder if my child's body parts are now fodder for some research program without my consent, going to the highest bidder?

There's a skilled way to bring all this to a conclusion, but right now it escapes me - part of the "newest" me.  All I can think of is the mental image of our Creator God shaking His head at the cruelty and audacity of His creation.

I pray that Jesus returns soon.