Dilation and Curettage (D&C)
After dilation of the cervix, a ring forceps is inserted into the womb and the baby is extracted in pieces. Then the abortionist inserts a curette, "a rod shaped instrument with a sharp edged spoon on the end, into the uterus to scrape the after-birth (placenta) from the wall of the womb and confirm that the womb is empty. Bleeding is usually profuse.

Suction-Aspiration
The abortionist inserts a hollow plastic tube into the dilated uterus. "This tube is attached to a suction machine. The suction machine is turned on. The uterus is emptied by suction. The suction tears the baby's body as s/he is being pulled through the hose.

Dilation and Evacuation (D&E)
Used after 12 weeks. The baby is too large to fit through to fit through the cervix. The baby "must be removed with instruments and suction curettage.A pliers-like instrument is needed because the baby's bones are calcified, as is the skull. The abortionist inserts the instrument into the uterus, seizes a leg or other part of the body and, with a twisting motion, tears it from the baby's body. The spine must be snapped and the skull crushed in order to remove them from the womb. Body parts are then reassembled and counted to make certain that the entire baby has been removed from the womb.

Saline Injection ("Salting Out")
This is used after 16 weeks. A long needle is inserted though the mother's abdomen into the baby's amniotic sac. Some fluid is removed and a strong salt solution is injected. The solution is swallowed and "breathed" and slowly poisons the baby. S/he kicks and jerks violently as s/he is literally being burned alive. "The uterus begins to contract, as in labor. The contractions continue until it pushes out the fetal and placental material.

Hysterotomy
Used mainly in the last three months of pregnancy, the womb is entered by surgery, as in a cesarean section. An incision is made through the abdomen. "The fetus and placenta are removed, and the incision is closed with stitches.The tiny baby is allowed to die by neglect or direct act.

Prostaglandin
This form of abortion uses chemicals, developed by the Upjohn Pharmaceutical Co., which cause the uterus to contract intensely, pushing out the developing baby. In one article, one of the complications listed with this method was "live birth." In fact, the two most "dreaded" complications for an abortionist are a dead mother or a live baby.

Dilation and Extraction (D&X - Partial-Birth Abortion)
At a September 13-14, 1992 meeting of the National Abortion Federation, a trade association of abortion providers, an Ohio abortionist, Dr. Martin Haskell, described the D&X technique he has perfected. With the D&X method the preborn baby is alive until the end of the procedure when the child is killed by suctioning the brain tissue through a hole at the base of the baby's head while still inside the birth canal. Then the intact aborted child, minus brain content, is removed. The late Dr. James McMahon, a former abortion colleague of Dr. Haskell's, admitted that he used this D&X technique to abort preborn children up to 32 weeks "or more."

After three days of preparations, the abortionist places an ultrasound transducer on the mother's abdomen and locates the child's legs and feet. The abortionist then uses a large forceps to grasp one of the baby's legs. He pulls firmly, forcing the child into a feet-down (breech) position. He continues pulling until the baby's leg is drawn into the birth canal.

Next, using his hands instead of forceps, the abortionist delivers the baby's body in a manner similar to a breech birth. First, the child's other leg is delivered, followed by the torso, shoulders and arms. The baby's head "usually" remains inside the uterus.

The abortionist then performs the last step which Dr. Haskell calls "fetal skull decompression." Using blunt-tipped surgical scissors in a closed position, he pierces the child's head at the base of the skull. He then forces the scissors open to enlarge the skull opening. The abortionist then inserts a suction catheter into the brain and vacuums out the child's brain tissue (in Dr. Haskell's words, "evacuates the skull contents) causing the baby's death. The skull collapses and the dead baby is removed.

Barbara Radford, Executive Director of the National Abortion Federation said of this abortion technique, in a 6/18/93 letter to NAF members, "Don't apologize: this is a legal abortion procedure."