Chicago, Ill., Feb 11, 2011 / 06:45 am
With the help of two pro-life groups in the area, a Catholic hospital in Illinois has become one of the first in the U.S. to assist women who've changed their minds and want to stop the process of a second trimester abortion, which can often take several days.
Resurrection Medical Center in Chicago – in partnership with the Pro-Life Action League and local Women's Center – officially launched an initiative called the “Bethlehem Project” in January, which entails immediately treating women who enter the hospital and want to halt their second trimester abortion.
Pro-Life Action League vice president Ann Scheidler explained in a Feb. 10 interview with CNA that the abortion procedure at that stage of fetal development can take place over multiple days.
She said that a woman seeking a second trimester abortion is initially medicated with laminaria – seaweed sticks bound together – which cause the cervix to soften and dilate. Depending on how late into the pregnancy the abortion is and the size of the baby, the woman may have to return to the clinic a second day to have more laminaria inserted.