Saving babies: a new outlook abortion "rights" proponents are finding that their position is becoming even more indefensible because of the increased viability of small-sized infants.(Culture War)

Proponents of abortion have always maintained that abortion--that is, killing babies--is not murder, but a "termination of fetal tissue." And the legal system has upheld that viewpoint ever since the Roe v. Wade decision, even to the point of accepting third-trimester abortions and partial-birth abortions. However, recent events have called negative attention to the "logic" of the pro-abortion stance.

On September 19, 2004, twins were born to Mahajabeen Shaik--not an unusual occurrence of itself. But what was unusual was that the twins, Rumaisa and Hiba, weighed just 8.6 ounces and 1 pound 4 ounces at birth, when they were delivered by C-section after only 25 weeks and 6 days in their mother's womb (15 weeks before their normal delivery date). William MacMillan, the attending obstetrician, stated, "We were a little surprised at just how small Rumaisa was, but pleased to see that she was vigorous and seemed to be getting a good start."

Rumaisa has the distinction of being the world's tiniest surviving baby--she was about the size of a cell phone at birth. More important, she was smaller than babies who are killed routinely by abortionists. Despite their tiny size, Shaik referred to the healthy infants as a "great blessing." As of mid-December, Rumaisa was doing well and was slated to go home to join her sister Hiba in early January.

The care given to and the attitude taken toward Rumaisa are in stark contrast to those involving "Baby Hope" in 1999. This unnamed baby was delivered at an E.R. after a partial-birth abortion went awry. The baby was born at 22 weeks and weighed 1 pound (almost twice as much as Rumaisa). Despite the fact that the baby was perfectly formed and continued to breathe on her own for three hours after her birth, attending doctors decided that she was "unlikely to survive" and that nothing should be done for her. A medical technician, Shelly Lowe, felt sorry for the infant and held her in her arms for those three hours. When the infant finally died, the death certificate stated the cause of death as "extreme prematurity secondary to induced abortion" (which is considered a "natural" cause of death). Vicki Saporta, director of the National Abortion Federation, passed off Hope's death as a "miscarriage of a 22-week nonviable fetus." Lowe's perspective differs vividly from Saporta's statement. Lowe described Baby Hope as having "no voice to tell us that she needed our help that early morning, because others had decided for her that she was worthless and removed her from the ultimate and perfect life support equipment--her mother's womb."

There have been other "failed ...