Initiative 694: Birth Canal Procedure

Thu., Oct. 29, 1998

By Kim Barker kimb@spokesman.com

Initiative 694 aims to make killing a fetus in the birth canal a felony.

Both sides are debating the measure in emotional rhetoric. But it’s not clear what sort of effect the initiative would really have if it passed.

Supporters say it would ban “partial-birth infanticide,” a procedure that is medically referred to as intact dilation and extraction.

Opponents say the initiative is so vague that it could be used to outlaw any kind of abortion.

Abortion opponents most commonly call the procedure partial-birth abortion. That’s when a doctor pulls a late-term fetus into the birth canal, then collapses the skull before it is delivered. The initiative would ban the procedure unless necessary to save the woman’s life.

“If this initiative passes, it would ensure that a child in the process of birth could not be killed,” said Cindy Omlin, the secretary on the board of Right to Life of Spokane.

The procedure is so rarely performed in Washington state that nobody on either side can offer any statistics.

In 1996, 26,396 abortions were reported for state residents, a slight decrease from the year before.

Three late-term abortions were performed, but those were not dilation and extraction abortions, according to the Washington Center for Health Statistics. Those abortions, performed after 27 weeks’ gestation, were done because of fetus abnormalities, according to statistics.

Supporters say this initiative has nothing to do with abortion, which they say would still be available. They say the measure would ban an “unnecessary and hideous” procedure that ends the lives of helpless children as they are being born.

Opponents say the initiative is all about abortion.

“They say it has nothing to do with abortion,” said Marilyn Knight, a spokeswoman for the “No on 694” campaign. “But it has everything to do with abortion. It would ban most current legal abortions in this state.”

In Washington state, it is already a felony to abort a viable fetus.

The initiative marks the fourth time that Washington voters have faced an abortion issue at the polls. Every other time, they’ve voted to support abortion rights.

I-694 Initiative 694 would make it a felony to terminate a fetus once it leaves the uterus for the birth canal. The procedure is rarely performed in Washington state.

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