Pro-lifers to lobby for state to ban partial-birth abortion

Hundreds of pro-life advocates from across the state will gather in Albany May 20 to learn the facts about partial-birth abortion and lobby legislators to ban the procedure in New York State.

The fourth annual "Lobby for Life Day," sponsored by the New York State Catholic Conference, the Christian Coalition of New York, the New York State Right to Life Committee and New Yorkers for Constitutional Freedoms, will be dedicated to debunking the myths about partial-birth abortion.

"We definitely want to get the facts out," stated Kathleen Gallagher, associate director of the state Catholic Conference. "There has been a lot of misinformation. The fact is that falsehood continues in the public arena -- about the numbers of this procedure that are performed each year, about how painless it is."

Facts from doctors

In order to teach pro-life advocates the medical facts about partial-birth abortion, a panel of three doctors will give presentations and answer questions:

* Dr. Tony Levatino, an obstetrician/gynecologist from Albany Medical Center and former abortionist, will explain the procedure itself;

* Dr. Ludovit Sevcik, an anesthesiologist from White Plains, will discuss the effect of anesthesia on the mother and child; and

* Dr. Patrick DelZoppo, a clinical and pastoral psychologist for the Archdiocese of New York, will speak on the emotional after-effects of the procedure on women.

"We always need to be more aware of the medical facts" about this procedure, Mrs. Gallagher stated. "We need to hear from experts in the medical community, so we can advocate more precisely and with more clarity."

Personal experience

The day will also include testimony by Whitney Goin, an Orlando, Florida, woman who has testified before Congress about her own struggle over whether to have a partial-birth abortion.

In 1995, Ms. Goin was told that the child she carried would be seriously malformed and advised to undergo the partial-birth abortion procedure. She and her husband decided to carry the child to term, and he was born with most of his major organs outside his body. The child survived and is now two years old. He will accompany Ms. Goin to Albany to meet participants.

In addition to the guest speakers, this year's event will also include a showing of "The Procedure," a film about partial-birth abortion that includes congressional testimony about the procedure and interviews with neonatal specialists who routinely work with prematurely born children. The doctors state that when surgery is necessary to save premature infants, they always administer anesthesia, because contrary to what abortion-rights advocates claim, "premies" do feel pain.

Meeting legislators

After the briefing session, participants will meet with Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and state legislators, particularly those serving on the Assembly Health Committee, to ask that the bill banning partial-birth abortion, currently held up in the Assembly, be passed.

"It doesn't matter to us if there are 500 [partial-birth abortions] a year or one -- the procedure is so horrific, it just shouldn't happen here," Mrs. Gallagher stated. "As for the reasons it's performed, it really doesn't matter whether the child is seriously malformed or at 20 or 30 weeks' gestation. There is no reason to have this procedure."

Since lobbyists for many different causes will gather in Albany on May 20, Lobby for Life Day has been allotted an extremely small space in the Legislative Office Building.

"This gives us all the more reason to have a strong pro-life presence in Albany on that day to provide a united voice for the unborn," Mrs. Gallagher wrote to participants, adding: "We will not let our message be drowned out."

(For more information on Lobby for Life Day, call 434-6195. To order the film "The Procedure," call 1-800-858-3040.)

more...

In order to further educate the public about the facts of partial-birth abortion, the New York State Catholic Conference will take a full-page advertisement in the Legislative Gazette's May 20 issue.

The ad will be a letter signed by physicians throughout New York State, stating that "it is our united, expert medical judgment that absolutely no obstetrical or medical situations exist which would require the partial delivery and purposeful destruction of a living infant just inches away from a completed birth. Never, never is partial-birth abortion medically indicated."

The physicians call the procedure a "grave risk" to the mother that is "not intended to address women's needs; it is meant to produce a dead infant."

They ask legislators to ban partial-birth abortion. (KB)

(05-15-97) [[In-content Ad]]