Life Links 3/21/13

Yesterday, the Kermit Gosnell trial discussed why the abortionist saved dozens of feet from some of the children he killed. 

"Do you think there is any medical reason to save the foot of a baby?" Assistant District Attorney Edward Cameron asked.

"In my practice, we would have no reason to save the foot, and I've never seen that done," replied Daniel H. Conway, a physician and neonatologist at St. Christopher's Hospital for Children.

Questioned by Gosnell attorney Jack McMahon, Conway acknowledged that the creases on the bottom of the foot are one factor sometimes used to determine the age of a stillborn or premature baby.

But Conway maintained he had never heard of physicians or researchers preserving and saving severed fetal feet.

The Global Times has an article about sex-selection abortion in China and a group who illegally performed ultrasounds to identify the gender of the child.

"Pregnant women would call them according to the number on the name card. The gang members would tell these women to meet them at a specific time and place. Then, they would dispatch a minivan to pick them up, drive them to remote areas in the countryside, and carry out the ultrasound tests or abortions," Zhang Rongmin, a local judge who took charge of the case, told the Global Times.

The business was lucrative, Zhang said. It cost around 60,000 yuan to buy the vehicles and ultrasound machines, but the gang charged 800 to 1,200 yuan for a gender test and 3,800 yuan for an induced abortion.

A mother writes to Dear Abby wondering why she has taken her daughter's abortion so hard.

Abby, I have taken this really hard. I have cried every day since she had the abortion, and I'm torturing myself thinking this is my fault because I went against everything I believe in when I supported her in her decision.

A man in India has been arrested along with his mother for allegedly forcing his wife to have an abortion. 

Sangrur resident Jyoti had complained to the police against her husband Naresh Bansal and other family members for forcing her to abort the 8 weeks old foetus at a private clinic. Sangrur DSP Gurmeet Singh Dhindsa said "Jyoti on Wednesday had complained to the police that her husband wanted to get rid of the child and forced to go in for the abortion. Working on her complaint the police has booked Naresh Bansal and his mother u/s 313(causing miscarriage without woman' consent), 120 IPC". DSP said the role of private clinic is also being investigated.