Another chunk of pro-life *****.
Here's the truth about Brenda Shafer:
The Truth About the Testimony of Nurse Brenda Pratt Shafer
Some of the testimony in support of the "Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act" has
been very graphic and disturbing. But has it been accurate and true? Diana
Griego Erwin of the Sacramento Bee has some interesting things to say on the
issue.
Brenda Pratt Shafer, a nurse, testified that she quit her job at an Ohio clinic
after witnessing late-term abortions performed on six healthy fetuses. But
according to Ms. Erwin, in a column published on Sunday, November 5, 1995, the
clinic at which Nurse Shafer worked does not perform third trimester abortions.
Is it possible that Nurse Shafer had witnessed second trimester abortions? Not
according to Ms. Erwin and Christie Gallivan, the clinic's head nurse. Shafer
was not a long-term employee of the clinic. In fact, she worked there for only
three days. According to Gallivan, "We do not train temporary nurses in
second-trimester dilation and extraction since it is a highly technical
procedure."
Unfortunately, Nurse Shafer's story is still being circulated and reported
without question, despite a "Dear Colleague" letter circulated on Capitol Hill
by Congresswomen Patricia Schroeder, Shiela Jackson Lee and Zoe Lofgren that
points out the inconsistencies.
Inaccurate and misleading claims on the part of abortion opponents are nothing
new. This latest incident, along with the circulation of a damaging "quote"
from one of the doctors who perform this procedure - a quote that appears
nowhere in the magazine it was allegedly pulled from - is strong evidence that
this bill's backers know it could never succeed on its own merits.
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