A Chicago medical center has found itself in a controversial position, as the first Roman Catholic hospital in the country to help women halt an abortion midway through the process.
Resurrection Medical Center began the new practice after pro-life activists started bringing in women who, in the second trimester of their pregnancy, had gone to a clinic for an abortion and then changed their minds. The process used by the clinic for a second trimester pregnancy takes 2-3 days to complete, so by stopping the process early on, Resurrection doctors are hoping to preserve the pregnancy.
[…]
A procedure for late-term abortions, which uses a dried seaweed called laminaria, is new and still unknown by many medical personnel. “They put in this so-called laminaria, which is made from seaweed, and they insert it into the cervix…and the concept is that, this seaweed will soften the cervix… and then after a period of time, 12 to 24 hours, sometimes longer, they take the woman back and they look in her cervix again to see if she’s ready to have that abortion” said Doctor Shu Boung Chan, the chairman of quality at Resurrection Hospital.
Laminaria, he explains, is like a thin rod made of dried kelp that is inserted like a tampon. The laminaria is supposed to expand and dilate the cervix. Once brought to Resurrection, the laminaria is removed, with the hope the cervix will return to its normal state, saving the fetus.
Critics worry the hospital’s efforts could actually cause medical problems for the pregnant woman, and may result in a miscarriage.
Two things. First: Seaweed? Ew. Second: People worry that trying to reverse an abortion might result in a miscarriage? Huh?
There’s more:
Resurrection CEO Sister Donna Marie Wolowicki said hospital staff won’t try to persuade or coerce a woman either way.
“We have our staff prepared to walk her into a private area to make sure that she has the opportunity to share what she really wants us to do or how to help her and what she understands. The first thing we want to make sure is that she understands what’s happened to her thus far we want her to understand about her pregnancy … how far she is along with the pregnancy and what we can do to help her if she really wants us to stop this abortive process … We want it to be a free decision by her.”
[…]
Planned Parenthood of Illinois supports the hospital’s way of handling the situation. Vice President for Public Policy, Pamela Sutherland, said that as long as the women weren’t coerced into changing their minds, it seems they were treated well.
“Based on the statements made by Resurrection …regarding women who come to them to interrupt a second-trimester abortion in process, Planned Parenthood of Illinois agrees with the Hospital’s Standard of Care. We are very pleased that they are counseling women to be sure women are comfortable with their decision. And we support what we also consider to be good medical practice.”
That’s nice – we’re now at the point where a Catholic hospital has to be extra careful not to appear to be putting any pressure at all on women who are coming to them hoping their abortion can be reversed. And the journalist has to make sure to get a quote from Planned Parenthood, as though PP was some kind of unbiased authority suitable to making pronouncements on what constituted proper medical treatment at an actual hospital?
Give me a break!
[h/t]
by 
The topic of laminaria removal was brought up at a National Abortion Federation seminar decades ago. In that context, an abortionist was complaining about the prolifers outside his clinic stealing his customers by taking them to the hospital to have the laminaria removed. Rather than chide the abortionist for his poor counseling protocols — and for doing abortions on women so uncertain of their decisions that a chance encounter with a stranger on the sidewalk changed their minds — the NAF members suggested making the women sign contracts agreeing to go ahead with the abortions even if they’d changed their minds.
Where is Planned Parenthood’s careful consideration of the counseling at the clinics whose patients are so uncertain of the abortion decision? Note how they look carefully at whether the woman was adequately counseled prior to continuing a pregnancy, but they seem utterly indifferent to the counseling prior to initiating an abortion?
“People worry that trying to reverse an abortion might result in a miscarriage? Huh?”
Progs worry that trying to reverse an abortion might result in a miscarriage.
Abortions often cause miscarriages down the road any way but they don’t have to tell you that up front.
progs = progessives = http://thepeoplescube.com/peoples-blog/fight-jihad-with-soviet-style-propaganda-posters-t3468.html#64604
They’re afraid the baby might die all in one piece rather than be dismembered, I guess.
Okay, in the fear of giving far too much information, I can tell you a thing or two about laminaria! My 4 year old is stubborn, and she was a very stubborn delivery. She was two weeks overdue, and I was scheduled for an induction. I checked into the hospital and was put on a drip of pitocin, had another drug administered directly behind the cervix, and we waited… and waited… and waited. 48 incredibly uncomfortable sleepless hours and 4 doctor changes later, nada, nope, not a thing. I was going to have to have C-section, something I really didn’t want with my first pregnancy. But alas, a new young female doctor said to me there was one more thing we could try… seaweed! Contrary to this article, my doctor told me this was an older method. All of the hospital staff came to see, as they had never heard of this before. The laminaria is very uncomfortable to insert, painful at times. Only the smallest “rod” of laminaria can be inserted into an undilated cervix. It absorbs moisture, and swells over the course of an hour or so (12 to 24 hrs seems excessive as it can only grow so much). Once it’s swelled in size (for me this was 2 cm), it’s removed to dilate the cervix (combined with the continued use of pitocin). For me, laminaria was a dream come true, Sophia was delivered later that day and I didn’t have a C-section.
In my humble opinion, the laminaria would not have succeeded on its own, even with me at 42 weeks pregnant. As this is a procedure for late-term abortions, happily many hospitals are able to care for premature infants as young as 25 weeks gestation. Even if labor did result, there seems to be a likelihood that both mother and child could be treated and remain unaffected.
Urg. So what is all the big fuss about removing laminaria as an unknown procedure with unknown and possibly dangerous consequences? I mean really, the abortionist will have to remove them anyways and then he will actually have to keep the cervix open to preform the abortion. When prolifers remove laminaria there is danger of an incomplete cervix but when abortion doctors do it and insert their instruments there is no danger or consequences whatsoever. Wow! How things are twisted!