Sometimes, the irony in a situation can slap you right in the face, and in the case of the pro-abortion women who were a disruption at the U.S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS) and later called their night in jail “inhumane,” we are feeling the ironic impact of their statement. Of course, while Students for Life of America (SFLA) supports life-affirming, humane actions toward everyone — born and preborn — we have to acknowledge the real dissidence between the “inhumanity” these women encountered during their short stint in jail and the overwhelming inhumanity of allowing children in the womb to be legally killed.  

In an article from The Guardian entitled “A Night of ‘Hell’: Abortion Activists on Their ‘Inhumane’ Detention in DC,” author Melody Schreiber speaks with the three women who disrupted SCOTUS proceedings in early November to chant pro-abortion mantras which included “The right to choose will not be taken away,” “We will restore our freedom to choose,” and “Women of America, vote,” as well as denunciations of the Dobbs v. Jackson ruling. It is against the law to protest in SCOTUS, and the three women were consequently arrested for the offense and detained.  

Their statements following their detention, however, are remarkable because they dared to use the word “inhumane” to describe how they were treated — after protesting in favor of the inhumanity of abortion. One of the women called the jail they were sent to “the most inhumane place I’d ever been” and another woman said it was “just torture, really,” a night of “hell.”  

However, when we consider exactly what these women were protesting for — abortion — that is truly a torturous, inhumane act for preborn children. As SFLA has formerly reported, these are the eight ways an abortion is committed, each cruel and awful in its own way:  

1. Chemical Abortion Pills  

Also known as “medical abortions,” this two-drug method includes the initial pill, mifepristone, which blocks the hormone progesterone and is intended to kill the baby through starvation before his/her expulsion. After taking the first pill, women take a second drug called misoprostol to induce contractions similar to natural birth labor and expel the dead baby.  

2. Suction Abortion 

After a woman’s cervix is dilated, a tube with a serrated tip called a suction curette is inserted into her uterus, and the strong suction tears the baby’s body apart. Around 29 times the same power as a household vacuum cleaner, the suction rips the preborn child’s body to pieces, sucking it through the hose into a container.  

3. Dilation & Curettage (D&C) 

After a woman’s cervix is dilated, a sharp, looped knife called a curette is inserted into her uterus, cutting the baby’s body into pieces which is often extracted by suction. The woman’s uterine wall is then scraped to remove the placenta and confirm that the uterus is empty.  

4. Dilation and Evacuation (D&E) 

In this procedure, forceps are inserted into the uterus, grabbing and twisting the baby’s body to dismember him/her. If the baby is too large, the head must be crushed in order to remove it. It is arguably the most barbaric of today’s commonly used abortion procedures.  

5. Dilation and Extraction (D&X or Partial Birth Abortion) 

Since 2003, this procedure has been federally outlawed in most cases. In a D&X, the woman’s cervix is dilated, and forceps extract the live baby by the feet until the head is just inside the cervix, with the rest of the body hanging outside the mother. Scissors puncture the skull, allowing the abortionist to collapse it by suctioning out the contents. The dead baby is then fully removed from their mother. 

6. Hysterotomy 

A mother’s womb is entered by a surgical incision in the abdominal wall, similar to a Caesarean section. However, the umbilical cord is usually cut while the baby is still in the womb, cutting off the oxygen supply and causing suffocation. Sometimes, though, the baby is delivered alive and left unattended to die. 

7. Saline Injection 

A 20% salt solution (the normal salt solution is .9%) is injected through a mother’s abdomen into the baby’s amniotic fluid. Ingesting the solution, the baby dies of salt poisoning, dehydration, and hemorrhaging of the brain. The baby’s skin is burned off. A dead or dying baby is delivered. A baby born alive is usually left unattended to die, though some have survived. Gianna Jessen and Melissa Ohden are survivors of saline abortions. 

8. Late-Term Abortion 

Late-term abortion is a multi-day series of abortion procedures and is typically done through a lethal injection of Digoxin. On the first day, the woman will go into the abortion facility/ hospital to begin the dilation process with seaweed sticks called laminaria. These sticks naturally expand after placement, and they allow access to the baby through the cervix. The abortionist will then use an extremely long needle to inject Digoxin into the fetus’s heart, which will cause a cardiac arrest (commonly known as a heart attack). 

On the second day, the woman will continue to be artificially dilated while still carrying the dead child. She will be administered Misoprostol to artificially stimulate uterine contractions. There may also be a second injection of Digoxin.  On the third or fourth day, the mother will deliver the dead child. 

Let the record show: These pills and procedures are inhumane, torturous, and hellish — a measly night in jail cannot compare.   

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